26 Shades of Orange
by Ebano
Summary: My jobs include being Candy's twin and personal maid, Castiel's rival opponent, Lysander's aggression, and Alexy's mannequin. And I do it all for free too. [unbeta'd]
1. Chapter 1: A

_A/N:_ **I finally wrote a **_**My Candy Love**_** fic! ;D**

_A. A/N:_** "Pomp" is the best last name ever. Don't even play.**

* * *

-_**A bAd teen, summer flick**_-

* * *

I have never been to a school with purple lockers and pink walls before. Was this building designed by the Sugarplum Fairy or something? It was so girly, it's hilarious.

A jab to my ribs interrupted my laughter though. "Quit laughing, you're giving me a headache." I rolled my eyes.

"Everything gives you a headache. You're such a little girl." The principal then suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

She gave us a sugar sweet smile. She looked like a big bottle of checkered Pepto-Bismol and outdated cotton candy. She probably designed the school in her 20's. "Are you two Chrysanthemum and Candace Lynn Pomp?" Candy smiled and nodded. I did the same. I've never had an old lady for a principal, so this was going to be interesting.

"You can call me Candy. And she goes by Chrys." The principal lady shook hands with us.

"I am Principal Shermansky. Did you two visit Nathaniel and get your paperwork signed?" Candy said yes, but I don't remember talking to a "Nathaniel" recently. "Good, good. I hope you have a nice time at our Sweet Amoris High." I snorted when she scampered out of earshot.

Candy rolled her eyes at me. "What?" I snorted again as we walked to our lockers. They were so indigo, it was still funny.

"This is so typical. Our lives are the plot of a bad summer movie right now." I took off my hat, hooked it to my belt loop, and then took out my stuff. Who knew that there was so much work already into the third quarter? "Two girls – no wait, _twin sisters_ – move across the country to some school that has the name of a French love story."

Candy slammed her locker shut suddenly. For such a nice looking girl, she could be really rude sometimes. "We don't even look like twins anymore. You dyed your hair." I nodded and shut my locker also.

"I just didn't want to associate myself with you. Only an idiot can confuse us now." She shook her head.

"C'mon. We're in classroom A." I followed her. Classroom A sounded better than going to classroom B.

* * *

Never mind, classroom A sucked. The teacher, Faraize – he doesn't even deserve a title to his name – was this fidgety man who stuttered a lot and had no control over the class. I barely had a grasp of whatever the heck the lesson was supposed to be before we were dismissed.

I felt a little hurt when I saw Candy just up and leave the class without me. I thought that twins were supposed to stick together through whatever. I hit her on the shoulder when I caught up with her. "I would take a bullet for you, but I'm afraid that you'd be the one behind the trigger." She waved her hand in my face. Rude.

"Not now Chrys. I have to find these two guys and give them these papers." I raised an eyebrow. We just got here, and she was already the school's errand girl? Some things just don't change as easily as hair color.

I followed her without saying anything. She navigated through the halls like a pro. I guess I should've memorized the school map too. I don't need to be wandering through the hallways like a blind puppy at yet _another_ school.

Candy suddenly ran into somebody. "Whoa, I did not see you. I am so sorry!" He turned around. He was a tall, scary looking somebody too. Great job Candy.

I hit her shoulder again. "How can you not see him? He has to be twice your size." She crossed her arms and huffed.

"We are the same height. Stop it Chrys!" I took a step back from her and raised my hands in defeat.

"Did somebody not get their beauty sleep? Do you need to go to bed earlier?" She ran her hand through her hair and shoved the papers in my hands.

"Okay then. Since I'm so tired, how about you give these papers away?" I clicked my tongue. Impulsiveness and stupidity were a worse combination than peanut butter and cheese.

I clicked my tongue again as I sorted through the papers. "How am I supposed to know who Alexy and Armin are?" She shrugged.

"They're like us. Twins, but different hair colors." I sighed as she stalked away. She was such an angel, really.

"Wow." I jumped from the voice behind me. I forgot about the leather-studded redhead that we had bumped into. I shrugged.

"Eh, she's just stressed." I reorganized the papers. I guess it wouldn't be too hard to find this Alexy and Armin if they were supposedly the male version of me and Candy. I shrugged again when I saw that Mr. Drugstore Dye Job didn't budge. "She's a jerk, but she's a nice jerk. You know?" He chuckled.

"So, new girl, why are you looking for that rainbow kid and video game addict?" I was looking for a rainbow kid and a gaming addict? Why, that sounded swell. If school wasn't getting better and better, stamp "_LIAR_" on my forehead.

I huffed. "I know right? I can't believe that we're already the teacher's lapdog after five minutes. I love Sweet Amoris." He snorted. I was about to turn around before his voice scared me again. He seemed to be an expert at human interaction.

"Nice shirt," he muttered. I glanced down at my top and then looked over to his. I felt a smirk spread across my face. We were wearing the same band T-shirt.

I gave him a small nod. "Thank you." I then walked away. Shoot. I should've asked for his name, he seemed pretty cool. Oh well, there was always tomorrow.

* * *

I sighed as I spotted a blue haired kid and a guy in a scarf on the staircase. It took me forever to find the end of the hallway. I paused to catch my breath before I gave them the papers. "Alexy, Armin this is for you." The blue-orange guy – who I'm assuming is Alexy – gave the biggest grin in the world as he took the papers from me.

"Thank you! We were supposed to get these two days ago." I nodded. I sat on the bottom step by (assumed) Armin's feet. My feet hurt, my arms hurt, I was tired. No physical education for the year was beginning to take its toll on me. "Are you okay?" I could hear a frown in his tone. I shook my head and waved my hand behind me.

"No, no. I'm alright. Just gotta catch my breath." I inhaled deeply before I got back to my feet. I held out my hand to the both of them. Armin glanced up at me but didn't take my hand. I guess Pokémon was too important. Alexy pulled me down and hugged me. I was surprised that we didn't tumble down the stairs together.

"Your sister told us to look out for you. You're nicer than she had described you!" I patted his back and scowled. Candy must have been in an especially bad mood today. She needed an extra nap to solve her sourness. I sighed as a released Alexy. He seemed nice. And I liked his style.

I slipped my hat on and leaned against the wall that opened to the stairway. I guess I'll hang out with these two until Candy picks me up. I looked down at the twins. Alexy was just smiling away while Armin was still on his gaming console. "Your jacket matches my beanie." I murmured. Alexy nodded. My, oh my, he was overenthusiastic. I liked him.

"It does! Hey, do you want to go shopping with me and Candy later?" I shook my head. I didn't want to extend Candy's bad day by mooching on her shopping date with daffodil. He pouted. "Aw, why not?"

I smiled. "Candy probably doesn't want to hang out with me after school. We already see enough of each other at home. Plus, I don't wanna ruin your little date each other." Armin suddenly laughed. Alexy frowned and hit his side. I wonder what that was about. I shook my head. Twins are weird.


	2. Chapter 2: B

-_**Big, Big order at the shop!**_-

* * *

It felt like my fingertips were going to freeze and fall off from all the chill of drinks in my hand. I don't when or how Candy had managed to convince me to do a coffee run for her and her little crew. Speaking of which, how does a person obtain a group of friends after one week? The only friend I really had was Alexy. But then again, the kid was friends would just about everything and everybody. And I've barely been able to hold a conversation with Armin because he's always engrossed in his little game world.

I groaned when I saw that I had gone down the wrong hallway. How could I get lost on my way to the courtyard? I should've went the front way. Candy's idiocy is rubbing off on me and that needed to stop.

I saw Rebel de Fleur talking to someone else as I entered the courtyard. I had almost mistaken the other guy for an adult. There was no way that this kid was a high-schooler. Not only was he tall, but just looked mature. I'll admit that I gawked at the both of them for a second before I scampered off to Candy and Co.

"Why'd you take so long?" I didn't even bother to pick my head up to see who had asked that. Now was the time for my memorization skills. I pulled out a large cup with some cloudy pink liquid.

"Here's a Passion Tea with lemon sweetener for the best sister in the world because I love her." Candy smiled as she took the drink. She never told me what her bad mood was about. I guess it was hormones or something. She better not start growing without me. We needed to look similar just in case I want to revert to the twin act again.

"Thanks!" I shrugged. I then selected a brown drink with clumps of caramel sitting at the top. It looked like body fat strung over sand, not very appetizing.

"Uh, here's an iced caramel macchiato for the lovely and violet Violette." She took the drink with a smile. Violette was the most adorable person that I have ever met, but her drink choices disappointed me. I wasn't expecting for her to order the strongest drink on the café menu, as all.

The next drink was a frothy, pink hot mess. "A Fruity Pebble cereal drink thing for Monsieur Alexy." Alexy pouted as he took the cup from me.

"It's Captain Crunch! I can't stand Fruity Pebbles." I laughed and shrugged. Fruity Pebbles just seemed to match his personality and looks better than Captain Crunch.

Next up was a heavenly looking hazelnut and chocolate mix. "The Ultimate Nutella Mix for the lively Kim." Kim snorted as she took the drink from me. I was down to two more drinks. "Here's a Dirty Chai for Armin." I tossed the cup at him. He raised an eyebrow at me.

"I feel like you're just making up these names."

Maybe.

I held up the last cup with a sigh. This marked the end of Café Chrysanthemum. I felt a little saddened. I was surprised a tear didn't come to my eye. "And lastly, I have a Chocolate Dalmatian with white mocha and a sprinkle of chocolate diabetic flavored chips for Mademoiselle Rosalya." I gave the cup up with relish. She giggled and lightly smacked my arm after she took the drink.

"Thank you. You are too nice." I shrugged and glanced at Candy, who rolled her eyes.

"You heard that? I'm becoming the nice twin." I folded the cup holders in half and sighed. Those drinks were heavy. They should have done coffee running in P.E. instead of making us do weekly mile runs. You know what? I am going to invent that someday. The future of this country is going to rest upon those who could walk the fastest while laden with caffeinated beverages.

After that intelligent thought, I pushed my beanie off of my eyebrows and spun on my heels. "Where are you going?" I glanced back. Violette had asked that. I smiled and plopped down next to her.

"Nowhere now." She blushed. She was too cute. If I had a daughter like her, I would make her my personal doll baby. Violette was too much.

I looked down at Candy's half eaten sandwich. "Someone forgot to pack me lunch this morning." I muttered. She tossed the sandwich onto my lap. "Why thank you sis. What would I do without you?" She hunched her shoulders over.

"I'm not sure if you'll starve or become obese." I clicked my tongue and split the bread of the sandwich apart. Disgust crawled into my mouth immediately. I neatly put the sandwich back together and returned it to Candy's little delicate hands.

"This is one of the reasons why I dyed my hair." I said. Candy burst out into laughter as if she had conducted the best joke in the universe. Everyone was staring at us.

"What's wrong with the sandwich?" Kim asked. I shook my head and laid back. This school obviously cut their grass regularly.

"I can't stand cheese and peanut butter sandwiches. It's the worst thing ever made." Candy was still cackling away.

"I hate cheese and peanut butter sandwiches." I shot up and looked at Armin.

"They're disgusting right?" He nodded.

"Alexy used to eat them all the time." Alexy huffed at the mention of his name. I leaned toward the center of the circle.

"Candy also used to put mustard on her pancakes." Candy stopped laughing then. Oops, did I get too personal? Armin chuckled and took a sip of his drink.

"Alexy used to put butter on bread crust and just eat it like it was nothing." I gasped and turned to Alexy.

"That's nasty. What was going through your mind?" Alexy shrugged.

Under his breath I heard him say, "It was good." I laughed. Candy had chosen some pretty nice people to join her posse.

I glanced behind me. Mr. Winged Skull Tee and Monsieur Sophistication were still pacing back and forth and talking. But it seemed like the redhead was doing more most of the speaking and the other was mainly nodding along.

I pointed a thumb toward them. "What are their names?" I asked. Rosalya perked up at that.

"Those are my Lys and Cassy babies." I felt myself snort. She was obviously friends with them. She laughed also. "The one who is aggressively wearing black and red is Castiel and the taller one with the wonderful sense of fashion is Lysander." I looked back at them again. "Wonderful" had different definitions, right?

Lysander looked pretty cool, but intimidating. Perhaps it was his height that played a role into it. Candy and I were genetically programmed to fear taller individuals because we're the sizes of elementary schoolers.

"Do you want to meet them?" I quickly shook my head. Rosalya took a swing of her drink and frowned. "Why not?" I shrugged.

"I just don't want to. And I'm wearing flannelette. I don't want my style of the day to mess up my first impression with Lysander." Rosalya gave a sudden wild hand gesture. It was as if there were dozens of mosquitoes in the air and she had caught them all with one fist thrust.

"That's a good reason. We should go shopping." I shook my head. Was everyone going to invite me to the clothes' shop? Was it mandatory in a town like this or something?

I shook my head again. "I'll go shopping later, maybe." I slowly rose to my feet. This was enough social time for today.

Candy grabbed my foot. "Hey, Mr. Faraize told me to tell you to go to Nathaniel to get something." I huffed. More errand girl runs, lovely.


	3. Chapter 3: C

**CholeGoesRawrrxX**: _haha Thank you! ;3_

**PandaPuppet**: _heyyy I didn't know you were interested in MCL lol. I was trying something different for the last chapter. I usually don't just write a chapter about one single event, so that was fun. Yeah, yeah we'll take a visit to their house soon lol. Thanks! ;D (I'm also trying to go in alphabetical order with the chapter names, let's see how long that lasts.)_

* * *

-_**Cash 4 Chrys**_-

* * *

It was a good thing that the student council room was the first door at the entrance. I wondered if I should knock or enter. This was a high school, so it would be kind of stupid to knock. But then again, I don't know what goes on at this school. I don't know what this "Nathaniel" kid does.

I pressed my ear against the door. I couldn't really make out any specific noises. I guess there weren't any explicit activities going on. I opened the door slowly. "Um, is Nathaniel in here?" I asked. Some blond guy slowly rose to his feet. This guy was a decent height but he wasn't quite as tall as Castiel and Lysander (I doubt that there was anyone as tall as Lysander at this school anyways).

He smiled. Something seemed off about him. Whatever, this is my first time meeting him. "I'm Nathaniel. You must be Chrysanthemum." I gave him my best glitzy Candy smile.

"You can call me Chrys. Candy told me that Mr. Faraize said that you needed me?" He nodded. He took out a clipboard and shuffled through the papers. He kept on glancing at the top of my head. Shoot, I left my hat on. I took off my beanie as quickly as possible. I'm assuming that this Nathaniel character has some important role in the school. Hopefully he wasn't just another teacher decoy. That would be boring. And I also might need someone close to the teachers on my side in case I wanted to do something.

Blondie handed me a yellow slip. "You are in debt from your previous school." Go figure.

I looked over at the paper. "_$200_?" I muttered. I had guessed that it was going to be around $30-$40. I felt a little accomplished about going over the one-hundred dollar mark.

Nathaniel nodded all cheerily. "Yes. And you are going to have to return it by this Friday." I frowned down at the paper. There were two more days until Friday, my parents were out of town, and I just happened to lend half of my savings for Candy's shopping sprees and coffee runs, leaving me with about $50. Fate like does nice things at the right times, doesn't it?

When I looked back up I gave a dazzling smile again. "Thank you Nathaniel. I'll be sure to get this to you by Friday. No later." He nodded and sat back down.

* * *

I paced back and forth through the hallway at the end of class. I used to plan a bunch of get-rich-quick schemes when I was in elementary school, but my greed for money and fame faded in middle school when I managed to nearly bankrupt my parents with one of my plans. Now, I couldn't think of anything in particular that was legal or fast.

I spun on my heels when I heard footsteps come toward me. It was Castiel and Lysander. I sighed and leaned against my locker. They didn't seem like they were all-knowing on the topic of money. I froze when they stopped in front of me. I felt like some nerdy underclassman that was finally becoming noticed by the hot, popular schoolgirls. I gave a small wave towards them. "Hey." My voice came out weak. Great. I didn't need to give off the "shy" persona to them. I was anything but.

They simultaneously crossed their arms. "Your name's Misty or something, right?" Castiel said. I almost laughed at that.

I shook my head. "No, just Chrys," I said. I took out my hat and put it on. It was like a comfort item for me. Whenever I wore my beanie, I could think more easily.

Castiel rolled his eyes. "Whatever." Lysander nudged his side. He opened his mouth and I held my breath for a moment in anticipation. I bet he had a heavenly voice.

"Don't be rude." I was right. It was heavenly, but a little flat, like he was bored of it all. He turned back to me with a blank expression. I guess it was too much to ask for a smile or something. It _was_ the end of the day too. "It's nice to meet you Chrys. I'm Lysander." I nodded. I was half-expecting a handshake, but he rubbed his chin instead. Lysander was just a big ball of un-expectancy for me. I don't think I can handle his stoic personality and laced boots.

"It's nice to meet you too." I said. I bit my tongue for a second. I guess it wouldn't hurt to ask them. "What would you guys do if you needed to make about $150 in two days?" Castiel burst into laughter suddenly.

"How did you fuck up?" He asked. I huffed and joined their Crossed Arms Club.

"I did some stuff that we shall not talk about at my other school. And today the Blond King of the School Table told me I owed 200-bucks and it's due by Friday." Lysander was looking between Castiel, who was still hysterical, and me.

"I don't think that we can help with your problem." I forgot about my problem for a second. I just wanted Lysander to talk to me. His voice was better than supreme pizza and donut holes. "I'm very sorry to hear that though. I hope it works out." He was talking to me like I was in a bad marriage or something.

I shrugged. "I think I got this." I murmured. The light bulb in my head was dim, but it was still on. Castiel stopped laughing then. What did he find so damn funny in first place?

"If you screw this up, tell me. I need another good laugh." Lysander nudged him again. They then continued their stroll down the hallway. I wonder how that friendship started. Maybe it wasn't just a friendship, but a partnership, a relationship. I smirked at the thought. I would love the drama of secret lovers at my school. It would be so much fun.

I shook my head. "Focus," I muttered. I needed to find Candy. No, wait. It would be much more exciting if I didn't. She would just contact our parents and they'll pay immediately and give me a lecture. I wanted a challenge. And a certain person or two came to mind.

* * *

"Unless we're going to start a meth lab in the middle of nowhere, I'm not interested." I groaned. Armin continued to play his video game. I guess the only time he paused was for food and sleep. I continued to stand in front of him until he looked at me again. He set down his game with an annoyed sigh. "Why do you owe so much money anyway? Did you try to get free lunches all the time?"

I shrugged. "Sure." I really wanted his help. For some reason my mind kept on screaming his name. I got down to my knees and grabbed his legs. His eyes widened and he tried to shake me off of him.

"Chrys, what are you doing? Get off." I shook my head.

"Please, please, please help me Armin. I just need help, that's all. Please Armin. Please, please, _please_?" I wrapped my legs around him too. He put his hands on my head and tried to push me again.

"You two became best friends quick." I shot a glare towards Candy. Alexy was standing next to her and he giving us the eye. Armin took his hands out of my hair. I felt him pull a strand out. I huffed and released him, then I sprawled myself out in the middle of the hallway floor.

"You guys would be cute together though." I heard Alexy murmur. He put his hands behind his head and squinted at us, as if he was scrutinizing my compatibility with Armin. "Same hair color, same personalities, same tastes in food; you two would be interesting." I shook my head. Armin wasn't hard on the eyes, but I didn't want him in that kind of way. And I wasn't particularly into cartoons and games, that was more of Candy's forte.

"What was that about?" Candy asked. I shook my head again and glanced up at Armin.

"Never mind then. I'll just find someone else." I jumped up to my feet and straightened my hat. Candy raised an eyebrow at me. She had the expression of a confused squirrel.

"What are you doing?" I raced down the hallway. It was going to be slightly harder to avoid my sister now.

* * *

Kim was scowling while Violette was shaking. I looped an arm over her shoulder. Kim growled suddenly. "You are stupid." She said. I shrugged.

"This plan is foolproof. It's going to work. I saw some girl scout get on the news for doing this. Plus . . ." I glanced down at my phone screen. "This is the busiest time for today. So luck played in my favor a little bit."

Violette shook me off of her. "I don't like this part of town." I patted her shoulder.

"Nothing bad is going to happen. We're probably not going to attract many people anyway because Kim is over there looking like a Halloween decoration." Kim exhaled loudly.

"Shut up little girl." I shrugged. What was bad was that the "little girl" nickname suited me. I liked it in a weird way. "I don't like liquor stores either." Kim announced. I shrugged. Their opinions were invalid now, they had already promised to help me and not back out.

People began flooding in all of a sudden. I pinched Kim's side until she kicked my shin and smiled. "Would you like to buy some cookies?" She asked. Her voice flipped from death and destruction to peppiness in two seconds flat. She was a born businesswoman.

Some people nodded and flocked over to our stand. This was good, this was good. It had taken around two hours to bake cookies and package them up. Our hard work better count for a nice sum, or I'll dye my hair back to blonde. As a matter of fact, I will. If I can't pay this debt by Friday, than I am going blonde again. I liked making bets with myself. It added to the excitement of things.

We actually received too much attention. I figured that if this store sold cannabis or something then we get a whole lot more business. But I guess alcoholics got the munchies too.

When we ran out we had raised $100. I pumped my fist into the air. "Thank you so much guys." Kim dropped her smile and leaned back in her chair.

"You owe me so much coffee." I nodded. I hugged Violette too. She gave an uneasy chuckle.

"Me too," she murmured. Her voice was slightly muffled from our embrace. I let go of her with a laugh. Today had been a good day. Tomorrow I needed about $50. Thursday might not be such a great day.


	4. Chapter 4: D

**ChloeGoesRawrrxX**: _oopsies, I edited that in. I guess that forgot to mention that. ;3 Hope you had fun camping!_

**PandaPuppet**: _I just had to start over on episode 11 because the game glitched and no matter where I went, nobody showed up. -.- STOP YELLING AT ME D; I ONLY DID A LOVE TRIANGLE ONE TIME BEFORE, I HIGHLY DOUBT I'LL DO ONE AGAIN xD I'm trying, the alphabet is difficult .-. why is there an order for the alphabet anyway. there's like absolutely no need for that pfft_

* * *

-_**Dogs start Drugstore romances**_-

* * *

I slumped against Candy's bedroom door. I could hear her snoring through the wood. I was barely in the clear for my cookie baking. Candy had almost caught me washing the cookie sheets and mixing bowls.

I expelled all of the air out of lungs in thought. I wasn't going to bake cookies again; I needed to think of something new. I had the urge to just take Candy's remaining money. I was astonished at my laziness. I was actually willing to dye my hair back for a second. I held in a laugh. I couldn't be weak. Now was the time for critical thinking.

Candy suddenly stopped snoring. I leaned against the door and listened. "Alexy . . ." I felt my eyebrows rise. Was she dreaming about Alexy? How interesting. "Chrys . . ." My eyebrows lowered. "Get away from my door." I huffed and opened the door slightly.

"Good morning." I said. She ran her hand through her hair and groaned. I laughed a little the sight. Contrary to popular belief, Candy was sort of like the moon while I was like the sun. Though she was happy and sunny, Candy was not a morning person. For some reason, when I was younger, I had decided to make a routine of waking Candy up every morning. Eventually it had turned into me just leaning against her door until she woke up though.

Candy kicked off her bedcovers and clamored out of bed. "G'morning." Her voice was still tired and gunky. "Did you make breakfast?" I followed her into the kitchen.

"Yeah," I answered. I handed her a plate of eggs. "I put cheese in them this time. Eat up." She gave a half-hearted chuckle as she took the food.

"If you were this nice outside of the house, I bet that you'd have millions of friends." I rolled my eyes and leaned against the kitchen counter. I preferred to play Snow White at home and Grumpy in public. "Did you already eat?" I nodded. "Are you dressed yet?" I nodded. "How's your hair?" I shrugged, though I knew what she meant by her question.

"Still black," I mumbled. I turned around and began to rummage through the cabinets for a cup.

"Is it growing, or is it falling out?" I took out a plastic cup, filled it with cranberry juice (another thing to add to "Chrys' List of Disgusting Inventions"), and placed it in front of Candy.

"It's fine. Stop asking." Speaking of hair, my scalp began to itch. I scratched it before putting on my beanie. I followed Candy upstairs to the bathroom when she finished eating.

"Shadow," she muttered. I didn't respond. I don't have an explanation for the whole "shadow" thing. I just had a habit of following Candy around.

I leaned against the bathroom wall and watched her get ready. "You dress up too much." I muttered. Candy said something under her breath and changed from a dress to a sweater.

"Is this better?" I shrugged. An idea came to mind.

"How about we switch clothes for the day?" Candy pouted.

"You say I'm impulsive. But you're always spouting out stupid ideas." I smiled and unbuttoned my shirt.

"That wasn't a 'no.'" It was weird to see Candy in a flannel top and a beanie. It didn't suit her usual attire of sweaters and over-the-top dresses. I wished I was wearing one of my band shirts. She would've look like a completely different person.

She smirked as she looked in the mirror. She grabbed some of my hair. "It looks like your hair is growing." She then moved her hand to the top of my head. "Your roots are starting to show." I shrugged.

"I don't care." I brushed my hair back into place with my fingers. Candy just had to pick out a panda sweater for today. It had a little cotton tail and a hood with ears and everything. "I'm going to look so cute." I said. Candy hit my arm.

"Let's go before we're late." I turned off the bathroom light and followed her down the hallway. I felt insulted. It was nearly impossible for me to be late.

* * *

Alexy pulled the hood of the panda sweater over my head and smiled. "You are too cute!" He began to tug at the ears of the sweater. "I wouldn't have thought that you had a sweater like this in a million years." I rolled my eyes. He started touching the sleeves. "This so soft too," he murmured.

I slowly pulled my arm away. Alexy seemed to be enjoying himself a little too much. "This is Candy's." Alexy tweaked the nose and the eyes on the hood.

"Obviously," he said. I half-listened to him as he chattered away through the hallway. He was going on about clothes and music when he suddenly stopped and grabbed my arm. "Do you wanna see a movie this weekend?" I nodded without thinking about it. If I managed to pay my debt by Friday without Candy ratting on me, then I should be able to go to the movies. Alexy smiled. "That was surprising. I thought that you were going to turn me down again!" I felt a little bad now.

I patted his shoulder. Well, I patted his side. I didn't feel like reaching up to his shoulder. He laughed and hooked arms with me. "Don't pat me like I'm a dog." My eyes widened at that. The light bulb in my head became much brighter.

* * *

"$25 is a hefty price for just walking a dog. And I don't believe that it is appropriate to associate with students outside of school. Plus, you already have a dog to walk, why another?" I prevented my eyes from narrowing. Shermansky was talking too much. Why wouldn't she just hand her mutt over already?

"I am trying to make $50 Principal Shermansky." I smiled. "Can you please help a teenager out? Your dog will be in safe hands." She raised an eyebrow at me.

She glanced behind her. Her dog's tongue was lapping the air and its ears were pointed in my direction. "Kiki has a tendency for running away." She said. I widened my smile. I needed to get this job while Candy was still out with Alexy and Rosalya.

"Please Principal Shermansky?" She pursed her lips and glanced down at her dog. It barked. She grabbed a leach out of nowhere, hooked it to the dog, and then handed it to me.

"Do not lose my Kiki." Her voice held spontaneous venom to it. I was a little scared of the principal for a second. I thanked her and walked to the park as fast as I could.

The other dog, some medium-sized bushy thing named Brown I believe, tried to drag me down the street. I didn't even bother to reprimand him. My plan was to find a bench to waste the hours by. It was going to take too much effort to walk two dogs.

After a little searching, I found a park bench to sit on. I tied the dogs' leaches to the hand rest of the bench and sat down. I had forgotten my phone at home. So I guess I had to entertain myself with my thoughts.

The weather was mixed between chilly and warm. Candy's wooly sweater was beginning to make me hot. I plucked at the sweater's fibers. When did she get this anyway?

"What are you doing Misty?" My head shot up. Castiel and Lysander were looming over me. I didn't recall seeing them at school today. Castiel muttered something and began to dig through his pockets.

Lysander sighed and handed him a box-shaped container from his own pocket. "I believe that her name was Chrys." I smiled up at him.

"Thanks for remembering Lysander." Castiel opened the container. It was a packet of cigarettes. I recognized the brand. It was the cheap kind from the drugstore. My father used to buy them every day.

Castiel put a cigarette in between his teeth and began to grope his pockets again. "I'm surprised that you do remember." He muttered. Castiel clenched his fists. "I must've dropped my lighter somewhere."

Lysander didn't seem to notice Castiel's little dilemma. He just crossed his arms and looked down at the two dogs by my side. "I just remembered that Chrys was a sobriquet for Chrysanthemum." Castiel snorted. I loved how they were talking about me as if it was nothing.

"Her name's Chrysanthemum? Aren't those the little purple flowers or some shit?" Kiki started to scratch at my leg. I gave his leach some slack and set him on my lap. Brown laid his head down on my feet. I wasn't expecting for these dogs to be so easygoing. Kim and Violette had described Kiki as this raging beast. He seemed pretty cool to me.

"No, no. Those are periwinkles. Chrysanthemums are the brightly colored daisy-like flowers." Lysander stared at Kiki. He placed his hand on his chin. "You are watching the principal's dog?" I nodded.

"Yeah," I said. _And thanks for acknowledging me after deflowering my name_, was on the tip of my tongue. But instead I asked, "Why do you guys keep on stopping to talk to me?" Castiel tucked his unlit cigarette back into his pocket and glared at me. I was practically shaking of freight from their crossed arms and hard stares.

"I didn't want to talk to you. Lysander did." Lysander shook his head.

"You were the first thing that Castiel noticed when we left the drugstore." Castiel's scowl deepened. I laughed.

"There's nothing wrong with you guys. I was just wondering." A breeze suddenly blew. I put the sweater over my ears. Castiel snorted. I wondered if he worked part-time as a pig. He snorted more than I did.

"Nice shirt. Where'd you get it, Panda Express Plus?" I clicked my tongue at his lame insult.

"Candy and I traded outfits for the day. Don't you think it's weird for her to be wearing flannel and a 'I Heart Winged Skulls' button all day?"

Castiel snorted again. "I didn't notice." Then again, was he even at school to begin with? I felt tempted to ask, but I decided not to. I felt that I had offended him enough for this afternoon.

Kiki barked. I patted his head to quiet him down. "Are you two going anywhere?" I asked. I tried to sound casual instead of nosy, but I guess it didn't work for Castiel.

"Why do you care?" I shrugged and pulled the hood of the sweater down some. Castiel turned to Lysander when I had stopped talking. "C'mon. I need a new lighter." Lysander nodded and walked with Castiel back to the drugstore.

Kiki barked again and jumped off of my lap. He was sniffing something on the sidewalk. I bent down to pick up whatever he had found. It was a generic, disposable lighter. I smirked as I tucked it into my pocket. "Nice job Kiki." He yapped once more before hopped into my lap again.


	5. Chapter 5: E

-**_Easy pEasy, lEmon squEEzy_**-

* * *

I felt a little good with the money in my pocket. Brown's owner had given me an extra $12. I thought that she had miscounted, but she shook her head and grinned and said, "I hope you have a nice day." The old lady had inspired me. I found myself heading to the drugstore.

I walked up to the counter. Cigarettes, lighters, magazines, and candies were on display. Some man in a purple vest glanced at me. "What do you want?" I didn't comment. He looked like he was having a bad day.

I pointed at a lighter. "Can I get this?" I asked. He picked up the lighter without looking and rung it up.

"$12," he muttered. I took the lighter and left.

* * *

The sky was significantly clearer and brighter on Friday. I practically skipped to Nathaniel's workshop. "Here's the money." Nathaniel gingerly took the envelope out of my hands and frowned. I really wanted to leave, but I decided to find out what his problem was. "What's wrong?" He looked away from me suddenly.

"You're, uh, violating the dress code." I looked down on myself. I could see the issue. I guess I'll deal with my clothes; I had four more periods left.

"Okay. I'll put a jacket on." I then pranced out of his office and out to the courtyard. My luck must have been right today, because Big Orphaned Annie was outside, leaning against a bench.

He frowned when I came into sight. "What do you want Misty?" I shrugged.

"I heard you lost a lighter Annie." Castiel put a hand on his hip.

"You were there idiot. And I got a new one anyway." I reached into my back pocket and pulled out both lighters.

"Well, you just wasted fifty cents." I said. He slowly took both of the lighters from me.

"Skulls?" He murmured. His voice dropped a shade lower. I guess I must have done something right. I had chosen a bronze lighter made up of two skulls. It reminded me of the Winged Skulls' logo and Castiel seemed to really like the human skeleton for some reason.

"Yup, skulls." I repeated. He threw the cheap lighter behind his back and began to turn the skull one over and over again in his hands.

"Metal lighters cost a lot," he murmured. I nodded. He better accept my gift, I had used my free money on him. I smiled some when he tucked it into his pocket. "Thanks Misty." He muttered.

"You're welcome Rosetop." Castiel crossed his arms.

"Ink Head." I crossed my arms too. So we were playing this game now?

"What'd you say Strawberry Shortcake's older brother?"

"I'm talking to you, Coal Lump."

"Cherry."

"Black Widow."

"Ruby Locks."

"12:00 Midnight."

"Rusty."

"Dalmatian." I laughed and raised my hands.

"You win, I got nothing." He smirked.

"I win everything, remember that." I snorted. He snorted. It was the best times. I then went back inside to retrieve a jacket.

* * *

I somehow found myself at the staircase. Candy was leaning against Alexy's shoulder and they both seemed to be preoccupied in whatever game Armin was playing. I sat on the other side of Armin and glanced down.

"Pokémon," I muttered. Candy poked me in the back of the head.

"Nice jacket." Alexy then looked at me. He didn't look like his usual happy self.

"That jacket is hideous. Let me take you shopping." I wrapped the jacket around me. Who spat in his cereal this morning?

"What's wrong with a Tide jacket?" Alexy furrowed his eyebrows as if it was an obvious answer.

"Who in their right mind would wear a jacket with a washing detergent logo on it?" I leaned over Armin and Candy and tapped Alexy's shoulder.

"You can take me shopping after the movies, alright?" He immediately brightened up.

"Thank you!" I could already see a future of pink and fluffy dresses.


	6. Chapter 6: F

**PandaPuppet**: *realizes Castiel is in every chapter so far*_ uhh…. no comment xD_

* * *

-_**Fashion casts a Foreshawdow**_-

* * *

The negative vibes radiating off of Alexy were strong. I had enjoyed the film we saw, but Alexy didn't seem to like it. He had muttered something about hating sad and bittersweet endings when we left the theater.

I tapped my bag of popcorn against his shoulder. He glanced down at me. He looked really sad and un-Alexy-like. "What's wrong?" I asked. He shrugged.

"I guess I feel bad." I held his arm to stop him from walking so I could throw away my popcorn bag.

"What do you feel bad about?" Alexy cleared his throat suddenly. He looked away from me and was darting his eyes all over the place. I touched his arm again. "Alexy, what's wrong?" I don't like prying into people's personal problems, but something about Alexy was bothering me.

"Candy asked me out."

"Eh?" I put both hands on his arm. "She asked _you_ out?" He nodded. This didn't sound real. "Candace Lynn asked a guy out." I shook my head before I looked back up at him. "She usually wants for the guy to make the first move. She must really like you." He cleared his throat again.

"I turned her down." I pulled him slightly so we could continue walking.

"Do you want to tell me why?" He stretched his loose arm out suddenly. He seemed really nervous about something. I hooked my arm with his and leaned against him. "How about I guess?" He shrugged.

"You can do that."

"Dammit, you look like a sad puppy right now." He cracked a smile, but he still looked down. "You already have a girlfriend." He shook his head. "You like some other girl." He shook his head again. "You think Candy's an annoying prick." He shook his head with a snigger.

"No, no. Candy's really cute. There's nothing wrong with her." I bit my lip. My suspicions were confirmed.

"You don't even like girls, do you?"

"Bingo." I had figured as much. I could see that the clothes' shop was across the street. I put some pep in my step as we walked across the road. I saw that Alexy had cheered up some when we entered the shop. He led me over to a rack of dresses.

"And you feel bad about turning her down?" He nodded and handed me a dress. It was short, red, and had Candy written all over it. I hope that he wasn't confusing our tastes.

"Yeah, I do." He tossed another dress onto my arm; short and black. What was going through his head? "She just looked really disappointed when I told her no." Some more dresses were piled on top of my arms. I didn't even bother to look at them.

"Has this happened before?" He spun around and took a dress out of my hands and hung it on a random hanger. He then picked up a black dress with a floral print.

"Put this on." I dumped the clothes into his hands and went to change. It was a nice dress but Alexy and I both agreed that it didn't look very nice on me. He made me try on countless designs and patterns. Our shopping experience became much more fun when he started to brighten up again. Our conversation changed from the woes of Candy and other girls to various people at school.

Alexy stuck a pair of glasses on my face. "Have you met Castiel?" He asked. I nodded. He replaced the glasses with another pair. "What do you think about him?" I shrugged.

"He's alright. We like the same bands and I bought him a lighter." Alexy took off the glasses and waggled his eyebrows.

"He's cute, but he scares me. I have never seen him smile unless he's around Lysander or Iris." He dragged me over to the headband stand. "Since you talked to Castiel, I guess you talked to Lysander too."

"Yeah. He's pretty cool. All he really did was explain what my name meant to Castiel. The guy really knows his flowers." Alexy pulled out a flower headband and stuck it on top of me. He huffed and patted my hair down.

"Would it kill you to comb your hair on a daily basis?" I gave him the Candy pout.

"It looks better messy." Alexy stuck another flower headband on. "My name might be Chrysanthemum, but I don't have a flower fetish." Alexy laughed. I felt a little relieved when I heard his usual cheeriness in his laugh. I don't think I can handle another depressed Alexy moment.

"You look really cute in flowers, c'mon." He fitted another headband on. "Especially white and yellow ones, whoa." He leaned in to my face. "Don't tell Candy I said this, but you just might be cuter than her." I flipped some of my hair over my shoulder and rolled my eyes.

"Tell me something I don't know." We shared a laugh before moving on. He threw a sweater at me.

"Let's recap: you know me, Armin, Rosalya, Kim, Violette, Castiel, Lysander, and Nathaniel, right?" My eyes widened a bit before I nodded. I thought that he was too focused on shopping to really pay attention to what I was saying. Alexy proved to be an observant one.

"Yeah, that's about everyone I think." Another sweater clouded my vision. "Is there anyone I'm supposed to know?" He shrugged and put on a top hat. This store seemed to sell just about everything.

"It seems like you haven't met Amber and her gang, which is good." I don't recall ever hearing anyone named Amber.

"Who's Amber, and why does she have a gang?" Alexy nonchalantly waved his hand.

"Amber is Nathaniel's little sister. She's huge and blonde and loud. How can you miss her?" I shrugged.

"Define 'huge.'"

"I don't mean huge weight-wise. She's just very tall. And her hair has to equal fifty-percent of her body weight." Amber sounded interesting. "She's the top bully of the school. And Amber isn't your typical name-caller and gossip girl, she'll fight people too." Now not only did Amber sound interesting, she sounded like a lovely and pleasant person to be around.

"What about her gang?" Alexy took all of the sweaters out of my hands suddenly. I leaned against a nearby stand.

"Amber's gang consists of Li and Charlotte. I have never heard Charlotte talk before and she seems really smart. I don't really know why she's friends with Amber. But Li on the other hand is worse." Alexy sighed. "And she is always putting on lipstick. If someone doesn't tell her that she looks like she a coloring book filled out by a two-year-old, then I am going to scream." I hit Alexy's shoulder.

"You've been around me too long." I looked down at the clothes we had accumulated. Alexy's shopping tactics were odd. He would throw fifty-eleven pairs of the same thing at me but then take all of them back but one. In the past two hours, it looked like he was building up three different outfits.

"No, but I'm serious." He grabbed the basket and looked down. "I know that you haven't met Melody. She's been sick for a week now."

I nodded. "Yeah, I haven't heard of Melody. What's her story?" Alexy shrugged.

"I don't know much about her. I just know that she's on the student council and everyone is freaking out because they don't know what to do without her." I took the basket from Alexy as he started to comb the store over again. "I heard that they're actually taking students that are in detention and making them work for council. They're also trying to hire off her position temporarily." I snorted.

"That just shows how organized this school is." Alexy tossed something into the basket before we went up to the counter. The cashier looked like he lived in the same era as Lysander. I tried to take a bag from Alexy but he refused.

We kept on talking about various things until we arrived to my house. I smiled as I took the bags from him. "I was scared that you were going to make me a pinky princess, but these are pretty nice. Thank you." He hugged me. I gave him a one-arm embrace and a pat on the back before I unlock my front door.

His smile wilted a little when I took a step inside. "Can you make sure Candy's all right?" I nodded.

"She's fine. She's been heartbroken before. It's alright." I gave one final wave before I went inside.

I found Candy leaning against my bedroom door. She turned off her phone and stood. "Had fun?" I nodded. "Can I see what you got?" I handed her my bags. She sounded sad too. I was not anticipating that I was going to play Dr. Phil twice in one day.

"Alexy told me everything." She dropped the shopping bags.

"What?" I picked up the bags and tossed them on my bed. Candy ran her hand through her hair. "I just can't figure out why. Armin told me that he wasn't interested in anybody." I decided not to tell her. It was Alexy's business, and he must have not told Candy why for a reason. And could she really not figure out why? The boy looked like San Francisco kidnapped and threw up all over him.

"Do you want me to bake you cookies or something?" Candy pitifully nodded. "Fine." I then marched down to the kitchen to vigorously bake.


	7. Chapter 7: G

_A/N:_ **Why did it take me three days to write this piece of crap on a skewer stick chapter?**

* * *

-_**GIRLFRIENDcheatcode**_-

* * *

Candy didn't even bother to look surprised. She just looked me up and down and then opened her locker. "What are you planning to do?" She asked. I pushed my pair of glasses up my nose. My vision was a little blurry. Alexy must have gotten glasses with pre-prescription in them.

"I'm about to become the student president's assistant." Candy gathered up her books and shut her locker with the back of her heel. I had been on my middle school's student council once. But after a strange incident of milk cartons being replaced with soda and bubble machines going off in the air vents, I was forced to resign.

"You combed your hair. You must be serious." I nodded and followed her down the hall. "And then what?" I folded the cuffs of my sweater over and patted my hair down. I wasn't very confident with my outfit but I thought that I looked studious enough.

"And then next week I am going to start a drum circle and conduct flower weaving meetings." Candy leaned against the A room's door. "It's free period, no class." Candy shook her head.

"Mr. Faraize called me, Alexy, and Capucine to help him with some work." I couldn't even comment on that, I was about to become an official teacher aid. Instead, I focused on my appearance. I felt like I needed one more thing. I snatched a hair tie from off of Candy's wrist and then tied my hair up. Now I felt ready.

"Do I look nerdy?" She shrugged. I could tell that she was still glum. I guess my baking skills didn't work miracles. "Calm down. It's not like you were in love with Alexy for twenty years just to find out that he was married to three other women and a dog when you finally confessed your yearns for him." Candy rolled her eyes, not amused in the slightest.

* * *

"And what makes you think that you're qualified to take the position of vice student president temporarily?" I shrugged.

"I know nobody else signed up. Just let me get started already." Nathaniel frowned. He handed me a manila file folder and pointed to a door at the back of the room.

"You can sort through files and papers with the people who volunteered from detention." I nodded and went to the other room. I threw the folder on the desk next to me and sighed. I hadn't really paved my plan beyond getting the position of assistant president. I tightened my ponytail in thought.

"Fancy seeing you here Misty." I nearly jumped. Castiel needed to stop teleporting. The rebel child was standing cross-armed in front of me. His jacket seemed a little different, and he was also wearing a few silver chains. I wonder if Rosalya had dragged him the clothes' shop over the weekend also. "What did the student council do to you?" I shook my head and straightened up.

"I applied for the council actually; willingly too." He re-crossed his arms.

"Why the hell did you do that?" Ruby Locks looked agitated for some reason. I shrugged and leaned back against the desk.

"I want to do something. I don't know what yet, but I want to do something." He suddenly looked behind me. I followed his gaze. Armin approached us and stood off to the side of Castiel. He looked awkward for some reason. "Why're you in the detention sweatshop?" We seemed to be the only students who weren't shuffling papers around.

"Too many absences and tardies, nothing much." Armin didn't strike me as the class skipping type. But then again, it was about what a person did _outside_ of class that built their character. My guess was that Armin just gamed and napped. He might snack too. "Why are you here?" I took note that his eyes dropped down to my feet. His cheeks looked red too. I couldn't even think of an explanation as to why he was blushing.

"I'm about to change some rules." I turned around picked up a random paper. "I bet half the kids here aren't even looking over to see what they're sorting." I skimmed over the paper's text. "See look; this is some contract thing to re-paint the second hall." Castiel shrugged.

"So?" He said. I plucked the pen from Armin's hand and scribbled down on the paper.

"What if the walls were accidentally painted orange?" Castiel shrugged again, but he looked interested now.

"Keep talking." He said.

I pulled out another paper. There was something about changing the recipes of the lunch food so they could be healthier. "And what if the sugar cookies become salt cookies?" That did it for Cassie. He held his hand out to Armin.

"Give me a pen." Armin muttered something about how he wasn't "_a stationery store_" while he handed Castiel another pen from his pocket.

Cassie, Armin, and I then corrupted more papers for the next hour or so. I caught Armin staring at me on a few occasions. I still couldn't figure out why he was acting so skittish around me all of a sudden. He usually either ignored me or complained to me. Now he was acting like I was a holy relic of Charizard.

I became slightly annoyed on the fifth time I could feel his eyes on my side. "Armin." He jumped a little.

"W-What?" He stuttered.

"How about we trade seats so you can stare at Castiel too?" Armin shook his head and returned to his papers.

I laughed when I heard him mutter, "Shut up." Castiel poked me with the ball of his pen.

"What are you laughing about?" Armin stood up suddenly and raced to the other side of the room. The confusion on Castiel's face was priceless. "What the hell?" I shrugged. I honestly did not have an answer.

"He kept on staring at me. I don't know why." Castiel looked at me as if I had said the stupidest thing on Earth. "What? Is it obvious or something?" Castiel half-nodded.

"He's a nerd. You look like nerd today. I think it explains itself." Oh, it made sense now. I put my pen down and flexed out my fingers. All this writing had made calluses on my ring fingers.

"I'm only keeping up the geek act until Melody comes back."

"You might get fired for sabotaging the school before she comes back." I shrugged. Whatever came first. "Well, at least is better than that teddy bear shirt you wore." I leaned back in my seat and glanced at the clock. We only had a few more minutes of sweatshop before school was dismissed. I wasn't expecting that I, a slacker, would correct papers with a rock band enthusiast and green vegetable hater.

"It was a panda. Do I need to teach you your animals?" Castiel threw his pen on the floor.

"Your students wouldn't learn anything if you were a teacher."

True.

The school bell tolled before I could open my mouth. I re-tied my hair and followed Castiel out of the room. "I'll see you tomorrow then?" He turned around and raised an eyebrow at me.

"No." It sounded like a plan.


	8. Chapter 8: H

-_**Hell rising**_-

* * *

Nathaniel had handed me papers to sign off. I thought that student council was supposed to take student problems and solve them, not to be ghost teachers.

I dropped my pen when the door suddenly slammed shut. Some tall blonde girl came raging in, followed by a chick in a Chinese suit jacket and another girl with more pierces in her face than hopes in my life. Was this Amber, the coloring book, and Charlotte? They didn't look so bad.

Amber growled and ran over to me. "Who the hell is the new guy?" I raised an eyebrow. Was she talking to me with that attitude?

"What?" I asked. She put both of her hands on the table space between us and glowered. I glanced down at her hands. She was sporting turquoise nail polish. It complimented her eyes, jewelry, belt, and everything her personality did not seem to be.

"Do I have to repeat myself? Who in the fuck is the new student here?" I got up and went through the new student file. The last students admitted to Sweet Amoris were Candy and I.

I shrugged and threw the file down. "There aren't any new students." I sat back down. Amber screamed something to her goons. "What does he look like?" I elaborated. The sooner Amber left the better.

"He's about Nathaniel's height, has brown hair, green eyes, wearing fatigues and stomp boots." I found it kind of odd how she compared this kid to Nathaniel. "_Fatigues and stomp boots_"? Did some military brat break into the school? Nathaniel was not going to be pleased.

I shook my head. "Sorry. He doesn't sound familiar." Amber hit the table again.

"You're the girl who hangs around Castiel, right?" I shrugged. I didn't really hang around Castiel. And I don't think that terrorizing the school and buying him a lighter has really made us officially "friends" yet.

"I've seen her talk to him like every day since she got here." I glared at Cake Face. She just shrugged and took out a compact mirror from her pocket.

Amber smirked when she turned back to me. "If you don't tell me who the new guy is, I'll tell Castiel about your little crush on him." I shrugged again.

"Okay, go tell him." Amber took a step back. I honestly did not really care. If Castiel really knew me, then he would understand that Amber was lying about this whole crush thing.

She flipped some of her hair over her shoulder. "Alright, I'm going to do it then." She gestured for Charlotte and Pop Tart to exit behind her.

I sighed and return to my papers. The door opened again. She couldn't be coming back already? "Go away Amber." I said. I looked up after a moment's silence. It was the mysterious camo kid. "That Amber girl is looking for you." I said. He frowned and continued to stand in front of me. I felt a little creeped out. "Can you talk, or . . .?"

He smiled suddenly. "Thanks for covering for me. I don't want to see her again." I slowly nodded. He was acting like I had done a huge favor for him.

"You're welcome then." I tried to return to my work but he was still standing over me. "Do you need something?" I asked. I had a feeling that Nathaniel was going to file a complaint to Shermansky if I didn't get my stuff done.

A wistful look took over his face. "What's wrong with you Candy?"

"I'm not Candy, I'm Chrys." He grabbed my arm suddenly and forced me to stand up.

"Really, you're Chrys?" He laughed. "I guess we sort of switched roles then." I nodded again. I had no idea what he was going on about. He was acting as if we were close friends or something.

I shook my arm from his grasp. "Look, I have some work to do right now. We can talk at lunch, its next period." He shook his head. I groaned and threw my pen down. I guess it was better to be persistent than passive-aggressive though.

"You don't remember me?" I shook my head.

"What, am I supposed to know you?" He nodded.

"You don't remember a timid boy who always carried a calculator and followed you around? We went to the same elementary school." He wasn't ringing any bells. "How can you not remember me? I had these huge glasses and I always ate Prince de LU cookies." I brought my hand to my chin – Lysander style – and nodded.

"Well, there was this boy in my class who was kind of nerdy and was always offering me cookies. I called him Woof-Woof and Backpack Straps and Cookie Monster and F–" He grabbed my arm again.

"Yeah, that's me. I'm Backpack Straps!" I felt my lips part and my eyes widened.

What happened to Backpack Straps? He looked like a completely different person now. And I didn't know that he had eyes. "You're hot." I bit my lip when I realized what I had said. "Dammit." Kentin chuckled and grabbed my other arm.

"Thanks! I worked hard to look like this." Kentin looked happier than I remembered him being. I guess he had gained more confidence now that he ditched the nerd attire and was smacked with the puberty stick. "Do you want to go get something to eat?"

"Right now?" He nodded. I glanced between my work and the door. I'll deal with Nathaniel's nagging later.

* * *

I was going to destroy this vending machine. It would not stop regurgitating my money. When it finally accepted it Kentin and I jumped closer to the machine. "Okay, okay. Press A1 and D3." I pressed the buttons as fast as I could. This machine was known for mixing the buttons up if you took too long.

I felt a tinge of guilt when I realized that Kentin had ordered cookies and donut holes. He had bothered to remember my favorite snack while I had nearly forgotten his existence. But it would be hard for anyone to recognize him with how much he has changed.

I felt a little jittery when I reached down to the dispenser. It was going to be a surprise we had gotten what we wanted or something completely different. I huffed. "It gave us pork ramen and barbeque chips."

Kentin shrugged. "We'll have to make do then." We went back to the council room to cook the noodles. I'll admit that it felt nice to see him again. I found him a little annoying back in elementary school because he had followed Candy and I everywhere we went. But he seemed less clingy and more controlled now. But I didn't like the fact that he insisted on sharing a fork. I made note to actually brush my teeth before I went to bed tonight.

"Do you still play the guitar?" He asked.

"I haven't touched a guitar in years."

"Really? I thought that you were pretty good." I shrugged. That's what they all say.

My favorite people in the world were at the staircase. Alexy, Armin, and Candy immediately stood up. Alexy's smile faltered a little, Armin still looked weird, and Candy slightly more ditsy than usual. "Who's that?" A grin spread across my face as I wounded up some ramen.

"There's no need to talk at the same time guys." I passed the fork to Kentin.

Alexy cocked his head to the side. "How'd you get a boyfriend in one month Chrys?" Kentin laughed.

"Not my boyfriend," I muttered. I turned to Candy. "This is Woof-Woof." I said. I heard Kentin mumble something about the nickname but I was too busy watching Candy's reaction.

"Woof-Woof grew up." He really did.

"Wait, wait." Alexy stepped up. "Please don't tell me that his name is 'Woof-Woof.'"

"We used to call him Woof-Woof because he followed us around like a dog back in elementary school. His real name is Ken." Kentin's expression suddenly changed.

"It's Kentin." Candy looked a little surprised by his sudden coldness. This dark side of him was new.

"O-Okay. So, uh, when did you get here?" Kentin passed me the fork but I honestly wasn't interested in the noodles anymore.

"I actually moved here in first quarter. But my dad enrolled me in military school for the rest of the semester." I looked him over again. Military school had treated him tenderly.

I glanced over at Armin. His head was down and he was fiddling with his thumbs. I took the bag of chips from out of Kentin's hands and tossed it to him. He looked a little startled, but he caught them anyway. "I hope you like barbeque." Armin still continued to look down. I guess I have to talk to him whenever I got the chance.

"Thanks." I nodded.

"Chrys!" I spun around and found myself face-to-face with an angry Nathaniel. "What are you doing?" I untangled myself from Kentin and ran ahead of Nathaniel. I could already hear his impending lecture.


	9. Chapter 9: I

-_**I, the dIstractIon, wIll**_-

* * *

"I'm resigning." Nathaniel simply smiled, but it looked strained.

"Thank you for your work on the council. You can return to your regular schedule now." I nodded and walked out. I heard Nathaniel let out the loudest sigh in the world before I closed the door.

I didn't know what to do with myself. It was free period and I had no clue where Candy was, so I couldn't bother her for now. I paced back and forth through the hallways. The school seemed a whole lot smaller now that I know where everything is. There were really only two levels with three hallways each, I don't understand how I had gotten so lost before.

"You're back to normal I see." I shrugged upon turning around. Castiel didn't look "normal" himself. He was still wearing that new jacket along with multiple chains. I wonder how many chains he can fit on that giraffe neck of his anyway. He looked down on me and shook his head. "I thought you were quitting today." I wasn't wearing the glasses, wool sweater, or button up sweater or anything. What was his problem?

"I did quit today." I murmured. Ran my hand through my hair, I hadn't combed it out either. My fingers also nearly got tangled up, that was a stupid move on my part.

He poked my shoulder. "What's up with the suspenders then?" I glanced down on myself. I had grown to like my suspenders through the whole geek experience. And also Alexy, Rosalya, and Candy had practically forced me into my outfit for today. They only let me have free reign over my face and hair, which I was thankful for. Having neat and combed hair and overdone makeup just didn't suit me.

"I like them." I poked Castiel's stomach. "What's up with this shirt?" He shrugged. I then reached up to poke his shoulder. "And those necklaces too. What's with this sudden change of style?"

He shrugged again. "Don't poke me."

"You poked me first!" He jabbed his finger in the middle of my forehead. I rolled my eyes. "Thanks for that. I needed some brute to assault my face today." He grinned, showing all of his teeth. He must have good mouth genes, because I highly doubt that he brushes his teeth every day. They were too white and bright and suspicious.

"You're welcome." I tried to jump up and bop the side of his head but he caught my hand. "Little girls like you shouldn't be so violent." I huffed and snatched my hand back from his grasp. I guess he had joined Kim on the Belittling Boat.

I crossed my arms and leaned against the wall. "Did you come here to make fun of my height and clothes, or did you actually want something?" His smile immediately dropped.

"I take you as the type who's good at distractions, right?" I shrugged.

"It depends on what you want."

"Look. I just want a minor distraction in class today. I got stuff to do." I looked down at our feet. He had traded out his beat up sneakers for some boots. I guess I had done the same with Alexy making me wear boots instead of high-tops for the day.

"You don't want a minor distraction." I murmured. "I know that you're going to be gone for the rest of the day and that you're risking ISS because of all your class skipping." I held up a finger before he could speak. "I went through everybody's files, so I know what's going on." I picked my head up and stretched out my arms. "But I'll keep old Faraize preoccupied for the rest of the day just for you, alright?" Castiel nodded.

He looked ticked off. It wasn't as if I had gone through his file for malicious reasons, I just had to check stuff. And everyone had interesting things stored away about them. Lysander was a natural literati, Nathaniel used to be a butthole in elementary school, Violette had skipped two grades, and Alexy seemed to be a little kleptomaniac back in the day.

"Thanks girly." I reached up to pat his shoulder but I felt my fingers curl back. "What?" I bit my tongue and touched his arm anyway.

"You're welcome Rosy." He snorted and walked off. I had noticed that something was off about him in the middle of our conversation, but I didn't expect for my hand to just freeze and draw back like that.

I shrugged it off. Now was the time for planning.

* * *

"Let's see. Capucine, Candy, Chrys, and Charlotte are here." Faraize glanced up at me and frowned. "Um, Miss Chrys?" I opened one eye and looked at him. "Can you please sit in your seat properly?" I opened both of my eyes and looked at him.

"What's wrong with the way that I'm sitting?" I asked. I had decided to go all out, but I was personally uncomfortable. Desktops were not good for the back.

"You can't sit on your desk like that." I shrugged.

"That's nice to know." Faraize looked uneasy all of a sudden. He kept on opening and closing his mouth. I jumped off of my desk and sat on the floor. "How about this?" Faraize shook his head.

"Can you please just sit in your desk so I can start the lesson for today?" I nodded, stood, and sat down properly. He closed the roll call sheet. "We are going to begin with a pop quiz." The class gave a simultaneous groan.

Faraize walked through each aisle and handed out quiz papers. When he neared Castiel's seat I threw my paper on the ground at his feet. He pressed his glasses up his nose and sighed. "What's wrong Miss Chrys?"

"I don't want this paper." He just stared blankly at me, probably trying to think up a response. I took his silence as an opportunity to reach into my backpack and pull out some gum. "I'd rather do this." I popped a ridiculous amount of bubblegum into my mouth and commenced to chew it loudly. Faraize continued to be speechless.

"I hope you brought enough of that for everyone." Kim said. I nodded, reached down, and threw a packet at her.

"Can I have some too?" I ended up tossing all of my gum out to everyone. I loved the fact that half of the class was chewing along with me. I felt like I had started a little act of rebellion just for the rebel master.

Faraize shook his head and broke out of his stupor suddenly. "Please stop chewing gum Miss Chyrs." I took the wad out of gum out of my mouth and stuck it on my finger. I waved the pink blob in his face.

"I don't have any gum you silly teacher." He placed all of the quizzes on my desk and walked to the front of the room.

"After you throw away your gum, can you pass those out for me?" I stuck the gum into the corner of my mouth, kicked off my boots, and started passing. I gave three tests to Candy.

"You gave me too much." She said. I shrugged and continued on. When I reached Faraize's desk I took a paper, rolled it into a cone shape, and took his highlighter and grading pen and scribbled all over it. I put it on my head.

"I am a volcano." I said. I then placed the paper on his head. "You are a volcano too." He made a little frustrated sound and knocked the cone off of his head.

"Please sit down and start your quiz please Miss Chrys." I did as told this time. The quiz was fairly easy. I raised my hand when I had finished it. Faraize walked over to my desk. "Did you have any problems?" He asked. He seemed to regret the words right when they came out of his mouth.

"Candy cheated off of me." I heard Candy gasp.

"How can I cheat off of you? We're on different sides of the room!" I shrugged.

"I don't know why she want my answers so badly, but she cheated." Faraize didn't say anything. He just collected my test and practically ran back to his desk. I could feel the wrath of Candy's glare from across the room.

"What are you doing?" She said. I raised my hand again.

"Teacher, Candace Lynn is threatening me now." I heard Candy growl. I cracked a smile. Faraize glanced between us. He seemed to be shrinking into his sweater.

When Faraize tried to walk to the whiteboard I raised my hand again. He sighed. I could tell that I was really working his nerves. "What is it now?" He asked.

"I can't speak English; I don't belong in this class." Faraize raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean? You're speaking English right now." I gave the best confused expression that I could. My six years of French were about to pay off.

"_Pardon? Je né parle pas anglais._" Faraize frowned.

"What did you just say?" He asked.

I shrugged as if it was the most obvious thing. "_La question est, qu'est-ce que _tu_ viens de dire_?" Faraize blinked.

"Since when could you speak French?"

"_Je pourrais toujours parler français, professeur idiot._" Faraize's frown deepened.

"That sounded like you insulted me." I smiled and shook my head. I was having way too much fun with this.

"_Je n'aurais jamais t'insulter cher professeur._" I heard Candy huff.

"She so insulted you." She said. I crossed my arms and turned to her. Candy had only taken around two or three years of French, but I guess that she could catch the gist of what I was saying.

"_Tais-toi le visage de Sucrerie_." I muttered. She crossed her arms also and faced me.

"Make me Chrysanthemum." She retorted. Faraize suddenly appeared in front of me.

"Can you please leave the classroom?" I shook my head. "Please just leave." He dragged on. I pointed at the clock.

"There are like two minutes left. It's half period today. Chill teacher." He continued to stand in front of me until the bell rang. I tugged my boots back on and raced out of room. I wonder how Castiel was going to repay me for my services.

* * *

_T/N:_ **"Pardon? I do not speak English."**

"**I could always speak French, professor idiot."**

"**I would never insult you dear professor."**

"**Shut your face Candy."**


	10. Chapter 10: J

-_**Just drink in the night, will ya?-**_

* * *

Castiel broke the silence between us when he poked my side suddenly. "Want one?" I glanced down at his hand. He was offering me a cigarette while he stuck another one between his teeth.

Cigarettes, especially this brand, were nostalgic for me. It took me from the times of when my father would tell me a story before bed and to the many days I spent behind various middle school buildings. I absentmindedly took the cigarette and just stared at it. I rubbed my fingers over the paper and tip. The nostalgia stopped when Castiel poked me again. "Do you want to admire it or smoke it?" I honestly wanted to admire it.

"I haven't smoked since the seventh grade." I murmured. Castiel smirked as he lit his cigarette.

"I wouldn't take you as the underage smoker type." He said. I shrugged. I was more of a troublemaker than a druggie really. Candy had forced me to quit when she had found out. I was expecting that I would become addicted, but I had simply lost interest and moved on to other shenanigans.

He grabbed my wrist when I tried to reach out to the lighter. "I heard something interesting." He then lit the cigarette for me. Had he done that when I was fourteen years old, I would have found his gesture utterly romantic. But for now, he was acting as weird as Armin.

"What?" I asked. I almost coughed on my first puff, but it didn't take long for my lungs to accept the familiar abuse.

I let him continue to hold my wrist just in case he would change the subject. "Amber said you had a crush on me." If this cigarette wasn't in my mouth I would have snorted.

"I don't really know Amber, but Im pretty sure that she's lying about that." He released my wrist and turned away for a second.

"Well shit." I heard him mutter. I pulled the cigarette out of my mouth and laughed.

"You believed her?" He muttered something else. I slapped his shoulder. "Castiel!" He took a long drag from his cigarette before he turned back to me.

"I got to cancel my reservations then." I stopped laughing.

"What do you mean by that?"

He shrugged. "Nothing. I just booked a reservation at this restaurant just for you, but it looks like you don't want to go." I frowned. He was joking right?

"What restaurant?" He shrugged again. I grabbed his arm. "Don't be like that Castiel, c'mon." I got a chuckle out of him.

"You know that fancy restaurant with all of the lights and stuff by the apartments?" I nodded. My stomach was heating up in anticipation. I tightened my grip on his arm. "Well, I went to that little café next to it and scratched my initials on a table." The sun in my stomach died.

"How sweet," I murmured. He nodded. I threw my cigarette on the ground and stomped it. "Let's go then." He pulled his cigarette out of his mouth and stared at me. His eyes were widened. I frowned. What did I do now?

He shook his head. "I was kidding you know."

"Yeah, but I'm going to need some payback for my stunts in class. I'm in detention for two days because of you." He snorted.

"Whatever. Let's go."

* * *

I pointed to the middle of the table. "I didn't think that you actually put your initials in the table." I said. And it looked pretty good too. The "C" wasn't crude; it had a nice curve to it.

He ran his finger over the letters. "I always eat at this table, so I might as well tag it." A waitress then arrived and Castiel ordered one Coke. I was a little confused. Why did he order one drink? Did he get it for himself, or for me? Were we going to share it? Why did I have to swamp germs with two other guys in the same two weeks? Why did this café smell like fresh gasoline and musty envelopes?

I was feeling a little antsy when the drink arrived. The cup was huge. Castiel took out two straws, ripped them open, and threw them inside of the glass. "Backwash and this is the last time I'm talking to you." He said. I held up my hand.

"Wait, wait. You could've just ordered two smalls or something." I grabbed at my straw anyway.

He shook his head. "A large costs less than two smalls, no way." I smiled.

"Cheap." I murmured. He rolled his eyes. I had to admit that I could be cheap also.

We both bent down and drunk at the same time. I turned my eyes up to him. I now agreed with Alexy on Castiel's cuteness. I guess I could see a more intimate side to him with his face all up close like this. He looked up at me. I laughed and sat up. He was still looking at me. "What?" I asked. He shook his head.

"Your eyes are weird."

"Your eyes are weirder than mine! Who has grey eyes?" He smirked like the cocky maniac he knew he was.

"At least my eyes stay one color. What's up with yours?" I bit my lip. Did he really have to point out every little detail about me? It went from my choice to wear suspenders to eye color.

"They're called hazel for a reason, you dummy." He took another sip from the drink.

"Turn your head to the window for a second." I held back a question and did as so for only a second. "They look green in the light." He murmured.

"Thanks for telling me. I didn't know that." He tilted his head to the side. Even though it was inexpensive and spontaneous, I had a feeling that I would enjoy this so-called date.

* * *

Candy and Rosalya were more excited than I was. I regretted telling them about my outing with Castiel. "Oh my goodness, you two would be so cute together." Candy said.

"It's so weird but predictable at the same time, you know?" Candy nodded along to Rosalya.

"They'll get hitched and run away together by next month." They both continued to giggle like schoolgirls. I was growing more and more annoyed as they droned on about my nonexistent relationship with Castiel.

They turned back to me with the biggest grins in the world. I crossed my arms and leaned back against Candy's headboard. I glanced at Rosalya. "When'd you get here?" I deadpanned. She stuck her tongue out at me. "But seriously, remember how I just did those random things in class?" Candy nodded.

"How can I forget? My quiz was almost marked invalid because of you."

"Yeah. Castiel had asked me to do that. So the trip to café was just my payment or whatever." Rosalya shook her head.

"The only person Castiel spends money on is Lysander, so you should feel special." She wasn't serious? I didn't feel particularly special that the Chain Neck of the town shared an entire cup of Coke with me. She wove a strand of her hair around her finger. "But I guess you're his type." I couldn't believe this. I just wanted to give Candy some juice, how did I get sucked into this?

"What's his type?" Candy asked. Rosalya then flipped her hair back.

"Well, I guess you're kind of like his old girlfriend. You both have crazy hair, some beautiful eyes, like bands, sing and play guitar, dyed hair—" I held up a hand to make her stop yammering. Okay, Castiel, his ex, and I had more similarities than differences. That meant nothing. We had finally formed some kind of weird friendship, I don't think a relationship is going to happen between us any time soon.

I glared at Candy as I thought over what Rosalya had said. "How does Rosalya know that I used to sing and play guitar?" Candy shrugged. I wanted to wipe that smug look off of her face.

Rosalya butted in. "Anyways, I think you two would last a while. I don't know, it's instinct talking." She had the instinct of a rock then.

I rolled off of Candy's bed. "I'm going downstairs, don't bother me." Candy pouted and Rosalya snickered. They were like devils dressed with wigs and skirts, it was horrible.


	11. Chapter 11: K

_WARNING_: **Mentions of recreational drug use, light swearing, underage drinking, and lame attempts at humor because I watched one too many comedy sketches this week.**

* * *

-_**Kids' Klub-  
**_

* * *

There was a red stain on my car. "Can you move Cassie?" I asked. He crossed his arms but he got off my car. I unlocked the passenger door and threw my bag inside. I could still sense a reddened presence behind me. "Need something?" I asked out.

He leaned against my car again. "I'm going to need you for the weekend." I backed out the car.

"What? Why? What's going on?"

He dug around in his pockets and pulled out a cigarette packet. He huffed through his nose and shoved the box in my hands. "Hold that." He then took out two ticket stubs and handed them to me. I threw the cigarettes in my car and looked the tickets over. In four hours there was going to be a concert featuring Foul Fiction, REMO+E, and Ceremony Held In the Junkyard.

A smile rose and fell across my face in the same second. I felt happy that Castiel was inviting me to a concert, but I had a feeling that I was his last choice. "You're taking me out again? Couldn't get enough of me last week?" He snatched the tickets out of my hand.

"Lysander, Rosa, and Iris are going to be out-of-town, so you're my last resort." I felt my smile return at that. I seemed to pick up on Castiel's thinking faster than I had expected. He scowled, but I knew that he wasn't angry. "Wipe that smile off your face, you're not special." I widened my grin.

"I can't believe that Cassie is taking me to a concert." I went to the other side of the car and climbed into the driver's seat. "Get in then." He threw my things in the back seat before he got in also. "We're going to that theater outside of town right?"

"Yup." I nodded and started the car. "This car's yours?"

"It was my father's, but it got passed on to me." I then drove out of the school parking lot. "I wouldn't get a black car in a million years. It's like the sun just goes right through the car, it's horrible."

"Especially right now, huh?" I nodded. Now that spring was settling in, the breeze was starting to fade and the sun was heating up. The air conditioner was beginning to not suffice.

I glanced over at Castiel when I stopped at a light. "Who's performing again?" I asked. He pulled out the tickets.

"Foul Fiction, REMO+E, and Ceremonies Held In the Junkyard." He read.

I bit my lip and started the car again. "Foul Fiction sucks; I hope they're just opening."

"Hey, their last album was all right, you have to admit that." I shrugged one shoulder. Foul Fiction's lead singer had a pitchy voice with too much vibrato for my tastes. And their guitarist was a bit off too. Their last album was tolerable, but it was going to take a lot to turn me into a Foul Fan.

"It was _okay_. They still suck though." Castiel leaned the seat back and propped his feet on the dashboard. I felt his eyes turn to me.

"What are your plans for spring break?" I glanced at him again. He looked too relax. I hit him in the knee so that he could sit up. He slapped my arm. I almost let go of the wheel.

"Don't do that. Do you want to crash Cassiella?" Castiel put his feet back up.

"That's a new one, Dottie." Question marks filled my mind. How on Earth did he come up with Dottie? "Hey, you just passed it!" I made note to ask about my new nickname later. I turned around to go back to the theater.

"You distracted me." I mumbled.

"Of course I did." I rolled my eyes and unbuckled my seatbelt. He grabbed my arm. Castiel had been touching my arms a lot lately. When he let go he threw a shirt in my face. I groaned as I pulled it off of me.

"Now what was that for?" I muttered. The shirt had a sternum, ribs, and a spine on it. "Are you trying to turn me into a walking skeleton?" He chuckled.

"Yeah, sure." I watched him walked outside of the car. I looked down at the shirt again. It had to be at least two or three times my size. I glanced up at Castiel. He had his back facing the car. I didn't know that he had a gentlemanly bone inside of him. Though his invitation to this concert wasn't exactly on the formal side.

I ripped off my shirt and put Castiel's on. It hung over one of my shoulders and almost reached my knees. I leaned over to the backseat and reached over to my backpack. "Rubber band, hairband, any kind of band, band," I muttered. I eventually found a hair tie at the bottom of the bag. I took the bottom of the shirt and tied it behind my back.

I jumped back when the car door open. "Hurry up. We're not going to get a good spot if you take too long." He grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the car.

I let him continue to hold onto me as we walked to the entrance. "What we doing after this?" I asked. He raised an eyebrow as he looked down at me.

"Well, I guess I'll take you to the playground so you can burn your steam with some other little girls before I take you home." Castiel's mind seemed to pump out more strange thoughts more than the average person's.

"What if I want to eat sandwiches and then make sweet passionate love afterwards?" Castiel let go of me.

"Not in this lifetime Dottie." I could only shake my head. He was slowly influencing my humor.

I nearly stopped when we reached the entrance. "There's a bouncer?" I murmured. Castiel just handed the tickets over. I felt fear prick my mind when the bouncer suddenly turned to me.

"How old are you?" I was surprised that his voice didn't have any bass in it.

"17." I answered. He held out his hand to me, not saying anything. I slowly placed my hand in his. He marked an "X" on the back of my hand with a black marker and then nodded his head toward the doors. I just gapped when we stepped inside the theater. It looked more like a nightclub than a building for a bunch of nerdy actors.

I found myself unconsciously latching onto Castiel as we walked inside. There was even a bar set up in the corner. Castiel led me to the front. We went past a shirtless guy and a green-haired chick who were passing a bottle of whatever with each other and some girl that was lighting up a roll of some substance.

A few men were setting up the stage. Castiel clicked his tongue as we sat down. I was surprised that there were even seats here. "I broke my amp a few days ago." I leaned against his shoulder when a random person walked in front of us.

"How?" He glared at the stage.

"I don't know, I just broke it." I backed off of him. I didn't want to get involved in his amplifier love affair.

* * *

Castiel dragged me to the restrooms when the main performances were over. Foul Fiction was still resounding in my head and I didn't like it. The singer sounded more off-key than a cat running across an unturned piano. And I don't know how, but the drummer was extremely off-beat. It was as if there was a completely different song going on in his head.

REMO+E blew the house down though. I could hear them preparing for an encore as Castiel and I walked back. He pulled me into the male restroom and took me to the sink. "What now?" I asked. He took my marked hand and poured some soap on it.

"I didn't know that you were an actual little girl." He then turned on the sink and scrubbed the back of my hand under the running water. I watched as the mark slowly began to disappear.

"We didn't exchange birthdates you know." Castiel rubbed my hand harder. "Mine's in December." I said.

"August," he said. I caught an odd undertone to his voice. It wasn't like he was giving me the code to a nuclear reactor, it was just his birthday. It wasn't like there was anything to be ashamed of. He patted my hand when my skin was nearly rubbed raw.

The "X" was very faint now. I ran my fingers over my hand. "Why'd you do that?" He pushed me out of the bathroom.

"You've been asking questions all day." He said. Have I? Was I? Really?

"Sorry. But seriously." He led me over to the bar.

"They mark you if you're underage." I could see where this was going. He handed me a few cups before we walked to the opposite side of theater. It seemed like half of the audience was either wasted or high off of something by now. But I was surprised that the crowd wasn't really doing anything. I pictured concerts as this place where people go insane, intoxicated or straight. I guess this was just a really chill town. The people at the liquor store did seem more excited about cookies than alcohol now that I thought about it.

I was ecstatic. I was holding a red plastic cup like the kids did in the bad summer movies. I felt superior, I felt like I was on top of the world.

* * *

I was feeling like I was falling off of the world after my sixth cup. Castiel was perfectly fine. He was like a standing oak tree. No matter how much water you fed it, it still stands still in the desert.

I threw my empty cup at his side. "That was my last one." I said. Castiel slung his arm over my shoulders. He felt like a dried octopus.

"I'm taking you home. I can already tell that you're going to do something stupid." Castiel felt like a giant pillow made of fish feathers against me. I tried to get closer to him, but his new jacket was in the way. I tried to get underneath it but he pushed me off. "Stop trying to cuddle me."

"I don't wanna cuddle. I want your new jacket." He took off his jacket and put it on me. "Stop dressing me. I'm not your baby doll mannequin doll. That's Violette." Castiel didn't comment. Or at least, I don't think he did.

It was dark outside. The stars looked like torches. At least the sun was gone. The sun had been mean to me for no reason all day long. What did I ever do? Did I owe money? I probably did.

"Wait a second." Some voice said. I looked up. It was the bouncer from earlier. Or another guy. He was wearing a vest. What type of bouncer wears a vest? I thought they wore clown outfits. He wasn't a real guard.

"Why?" I asked. Castiel squeezed me.

"They're checking somebody, just wait." I shook my head. I had to go home. I had to feed my parrot and hammer the refrigerator. I didn't have time for this.

I held up a finger to Mr. Bouncer. "Let me through, I don't have time for this." I said. He raised his eyebrow at me and then looked at Cassie.

"I'm going to need for you to control your lady." I felt insulted for some reason. I wasn't a lady. I was a volcano like two or something weeks ago.

"Nobody controls me. Do I look like a damn remote control to you?" Monsieur Bouncy's eyebrow went farther up his forehead. His face hair was making me even more pissed. "This fool does not control me. So you can go fuck yourself behind the building. I don't care."

Castiel squeezed me harder. "Chrys, don't start." He said. I shook my head.

"No, no. I didn't start this. Mr. Baldie Eagle did."

"He has more hair than you do Chrys. Calm down." I shook my head again.

"No, no. He looks like a recycled paper bottle. Who wears blue at night? He's going to get ran over if he tries to cross the street, I know that much." I looked at the Bounce Castle Man. "Now tell me, what is it like having a thick candy shell for a head?" I felt Castiel shake me a little. Was he trying to cause an earthquake? He needed to calm down. "I bet you can't even hear me right now." I continued.

Bounce looked at Cassie again. "Hey." He simply said. His nostrils flared. I switched fingers.

"Don't flare your nostrils at me Mr. Man." He rolled his eyes. "There's no need to be so fucking rude. What the hell did I do to you?"

Castiel was practically stabbing my shoulder with his fingernails now. "He hasn't moved his nostrils since we got here. Calm down Dottie." I shook my head again.

"They moved. They flared. They flared like a fucking castaway survivor on an island and shit." His nostrils made movement again. "You see that? You just saw that, I know you did." He could smuggle a balloon into that nose of his if he tried.

Bounce House moved the rope in front of us suddenly. "Just go man. Take care of your girl. Seems a little crazy." Castiel nodded and pulled me out of the theater.

"He didn't just call me crazy."

"You are acting a little crazy right now." I threw his arm off of me.

"You did not just call me crazy too." Castiel nodded. I wanted to jump into his teddy bear warmth again, but I didn't want to if he was going to act like crushed ice now. I spun on my feet and went to the opposite direction of the parking lot. "I'm leaving." I said.

I heard him chase after me. "What are you doing? Your car's right there. Let me drive you home." I shook my head.

"Go drive it into a bridge. I don't care." I heard a pause in footsteps before he was after me again.

"That makes no sense. Come on Chrys." I turned around.

"No!" He crossed his arms.

"At least give me my jacket back." I shook my head.

"Go get your own jacket."

"That _is_ my jacket smart one." I held up my hand to him.

"Stop following me. Go away Reddy." He took my shoulder but I shook him off of me. "What do you want?" Castiel huffed.

"You're not making any sense right now." He repeated. I think he repeated. He might have said that before, but oh well, I don't care. I continued walking down the sidewalk. "You're just going to leave your car like that?"

"Obviously!" Why didn't he get the point? Cassie was a slow boy sometimes.

"What will your dad think, huh?" He asked. I tried to shrug but I ended up raising one of my shoulders to the side instead.

"He's too dead to think about his stupid car." I tried to take a turn in the sidewalk, but I ended up crashing right into Cassiella's chest. I tried to hit him, but my first turned into puddy cake. "Move your brick wall body dammit." I felt like I had mispronounced the word "brick." I tried to repeat myself but I couldn't. My face was too tired.

Castiel put his calamari hands on me again. "I have your keys." I slumped in his arms but I was still feeling mad.

"Why'd you steal my keys? Go steal some other girl's keys, I have to get home." He muttered something. "What? I couldn't hear you." He shook his head. I didn't really care about what he said anyways. It didn't matter. It didn't affect my chances of getting into college. Which was slim anyway, since I wear an orange beanie 24/7. I touched my head at that fluffthought.

"My hat's gone." I muttered. I tried to sound panicked, but it didn't work out. Castiel patted the side of his jacket that I was wearing.

"I have it, don't worry." Next thing I knew I was being shoved into a car. It looked familiar. It smelled like lemon drops and desperation.

I heard the hum of the car when I leaned against the seat. "Get a new car smeller Cassie poo." I said.

"Go to sleep Miss Dottie." I couldn't agree with that. I crawled into dreamland full force once the car started moving.


	12. Chapter 12: L

-_**Let's go to the beach**_-

* * *

I thought that alcohol was supposed to have mind erasing abilities, but it apparently didn't work for me. I remembered fighting the theater bouncer, stumbling away from the parking lot, and trying to smuggle Castiel when we got the car.

I tried to sit up but my head started throbbing. My brain felt too large for my skull and my body felt downright sore. I felt like a fire truck had run over my upper body only.

I slowly opened my eyes. They were burning. I didn't like the hangover package so far. When I looked down I realized that this wasn't my couch. I tried to sit up again but I ended up falling on my face. I groaned. My mind seemed to be in handicapped toddler mode.

I heard something move from behind me, but I didn't even bother to try and pick myself up again. "Dottie's up." I groaned again as I connected the dots in my mind.

"Why am I here?" I muttered. My voice was groggy and my throat was drier than an oak tree in the desert.

There was another rustle before I was suddenly flipped over. I felt light immediately scorch my face. I threw my arm over my eyes as fast as I could, but my arm was pulled away from me. "Stop it. You can't just sleep all day." I cautiously opened one eye. It still burned, but the pain had gone down some.

"Didn't answer me," I mumbled. Castiel shrugged and disappeared. I tried looking around the room with my eye. It was messy, the television was broadcasting some nonsensical cartoon but it was on mute, there was a beast staring at me in the corner. I shot up to my feet but I ended up falling right back on the couch. It took me a second to realize that it was just a monster-sized dog.

We continued to look at each other silently until Castiel came back. "Go away Demon." He said. The dog quickly scampered out of the room. Castiel then sat next to me.

"Named the dog Demon?" I asked. He shrugged.

"He hasn't been living up to his name. Lately, all he's been doing is sleeping and staring at the wall. It's creepy as hell." I gave a light-hearted chuckle at that. Castiel handed me a wet rag. "You look pretty bad right now." I huffed and began to scrub my face. There was smudged eye liner all over the rag when I pulled it away. At least I hadn't done much to my face. But it would have been funny if I had turned into a clown or something.

Castiel tossed a pizza box on the table in front of us. He dropped a slice in my lap before he took one for himself. "Cassiella the Gentleman," I murmured. He snorted. I looked down at the pizza. It heavily decorated with pepperonis, pineapples, and olives. I plucked the pepperonis off and put them on Castiel's slice.

"Are you a vegetarian or something?" I shook my head.

"I don't like meat." The pizza was practically spurting with grease when I bit into it, and the pineapples were too sweet. I still ate it anyway because my stomach was screaming for food. We ended up finishing the entire box within an hour. Castiel was going on about something the entire time but I was only half-listening to him.

He kicked the box off the table and sighed. "You messed up my shirt too." The shirt thing was the only thing I had forgotten about it seemed. I looked down on myself. The knot was loose so the shirt was all over the place. I groped around the couch for the tie and placed it in my hair.

"How?" I asked. It was a dark shirt, so any stains on it would have faded by now.

"You were drooling all over it last night. And I bet it smells like you right now." I bunched the shirt up and brought it up to my nose. It smelled like vodka and sweat, nothing like me.

"What do I smell like?" I asked. My voice was starting to come back, but it still sounded bad.

Castiel leaned back into the couch and sighed. "Flowery. And like vanilla too, and kind of fruity." I bit my lip and looked away. I bet he smelled me in my sleep, that weirdo. "But you also smell like you trudged through a dumpster for the past six years. And like a fish died in my mouth." The flustered feeling was knocked out of me.

"And you smell like a French whore." I retorted. Castiel shook his head.

"I smell like freshly picked roses, Dottie. Your nose must be broken." I fiddled with the hem of Castiel's shirt. He had vaguely answered that he brought me to his house because he didn't feel like searching for mine, but he hadn't been clear on why he gave me his shirt to wear.

But did I really smell like flower and vanilla and fruit like he said? Candy usually said that I smelled like oven heat – whatever that meant – and a cold shower. "How would you know that my breath smells like fish?"

"Just a guess," he said. I shook my head.

"Unless we made tuna fish sandwiches and did some passionate lovemaking last night, you don't know what the inside of my mouth smells like." Cassie slumped farther into to couch.

"You were out cold last night. And I would never make sandwiches with you, especially tuna fish." I tried to laugh, but my throat was still too dry. I ended up coughing into my hand.

"There's always right now." I said in between coughs. I cackled again at the shocked expression on his face. I patted his arm. "Whatever. Where's my phone?"

"I think you put it in my jacket." I took off the jacket and searched through the pockets. My phone and hat were there sure enough. I turned on my phone. It was on low battery and there were at least six trillion notifications from Candy only.

I skimmed over her messages. She was asking about where I had vanished after school, where I was last night, that our parents had gone on another trip for themselves, and that she was going to the beach. She went from worried to panic to calm quickly. "Candy's at the beach." I then tucked my phone into my own pocket.

"You want to go?" Castiel asked. I could tell that he wasn't interested though. I wasn't a big fan of the beach either. Getting sand in all of your nooks and crannies and having to wash the beach water off my hair and skin didn't sound like a fun time to me.

I shook my head. "I'll just go home. I'll give your shirt back later." He just nodded.

* * *

I ended up going to the beach anyway. I berated Candy on the phone for losing her ride. If she went to the beach with Rosalya and Lysander, then she was supposed to leave the beach with Rosalya and Lysander. How could she let them leave without her? Candy needed to stop being so mindless before someone actually loses her.

Sand was already gathering in between my toes. "Stupid Candy," I hissed. I pressed my sunglasses closer to my face, but my eyes still hurt from how bright the sun was today.

I didn't realize just how huge the beach was. It took me forever to find Candy. She was sprawled out on a blanket next to some guy. I crouched down next to her and kicked her side. "Ow! What was that for?" Normally, I would have just been annoyed. But my hangover increased my annoyance by a tenfold.

"Do you want to mack with this beach boy, or go home?" I asked. She pouted and turned to the guy. He was just sitting there and smiling at us. His face was annoying me too.

"I have to go Dake." She said. He wrapped his arms around her and stuck his face in the crook of her neck.

"Can't you stay a little longer love?" He asked. I was confused. Did Candy meet and hookup with this Dake boy all in the same day?

She smiled like a lovesick puppy. "I'm sorry. But I'll see you tomorrow, alright?" He nodded and kissed her cheek. Candy then stood up. "Okay, let's go." I was still stunned for a second. I wanted to criticize her and yell at her like the responsible twin I was, but head pain won out. I let her lead me to the parking lot and drive back home. For some reason she didn't seem surprised about how I spent my night.


	13. Chapter 13: M

-_**MoMMa**_-

* * *

Candy explained that Dakota was from Australia and that he was visiting his uncle for spring break. He still sounded sketchy. I had a feeling that their infatuation toward each other was going end in two weeks tops.

I still had a headache when we entered the house. When was this hangover thing going to end? I had important things to do.

"Oh, and mom left something for you." Candy presented a box of blonde hair dye. I snorted. "She noticed that your hair is starting to fade, so she picked this up. She made sure that it was the same shade as my hair too." I took the box out of Candy's hands. There was a picture of a girl with a too much blush smiling while she held up her Rumpelstiltskin gold hair. "And she wanted you to bleach your hair so the black dye won't stain."

I tossed the box back to Candy. She fumbled to catch it. "Dye my hair for me, I'm too tired." She nodded and raced upstairs. Candy seemed more animate about dying my hair than I was. I fingered that mother dear wanted me to go back to blonde eventually. I was literally the black sheep of the family.

Candy dragged a chair into the bathroom and placed me on it. "Okay, okay, I got this." I heard her mutter. I was a little scared for my hair. Candy had attempted to dye her hair once, but it turned into a disaster and she ended up cutting 50% of her hair off.

I felt her wrap a towel around my shoulders. "Are you sure you got this?" I asked. She glared at me through the bathroom mirror.

"Of course! Don't underestimate me, I can do this now." Candy ripped open the box. I tapped her hand.

"You're supposed to put Vaseline on my hairline first stupid. You don't want to stain it." She frowned.

"But how can I stain your hair if it's already blonde?" I shrugged. I didn't invent the rules, I just acknowledged them. Candy put the Vaseline on my hair anyways. "Alright, I'm going to dye it now." I patted her hand again.

"Didn't mom say that she wanted my hair bleached first?" Candy smiled.

"I'm sorry. I'm just really excited to see you with blonde hair again!" I rolled my eyes. Candy dashed out of the room and came back with a bunch of hair supplies. She dumped them all on the counter and then slipped on a pair of plastic gloves on. "Alright, let's get started." I nodded. I wanted to get this over with as soon as possible.

She mixed the bleach together in a bowl. I felt a little uneasy as I heard her blend it all together. Well, of course I was going to be nervous. I didn't like changing a style before school starts. I was always worried about what people would say. I knew that Castiel was definitely going to poke fun at me and Kentin was going to confuse me with Candy again. And I also personally thought that my hat matched with my darker hair better.

Candy picked up a tint brush, dipped it in the blue-white-ish blend, and got to work. "Mom wants us to get another cat." She said.

"When?" I asked. She dipped the brush back in the bleach.

"She wants us to go to the pet store tomorrow." I felt a stinging sensation on my scalp suddenly. "Sorry! Didn't mean to do that." I winced when I felt another sting.

"You're not supposed rub it on my scalp dumbo. Be gentle with me." Candy apologized again and continued a bit more slowly. "What kind of cat do you want?" I asked.

Candy shrugged. "I don't really know any kinds of cats, but I want a black one this time." Our last cat was white, and it somehow got dirty very easily. Candy covered my hair with a sheet of plastic wrap before she leaned against the wall. "Okay, I have to let this set for fifteen or so minutes before I check, right?" I nodded. My headache was beginning to numb down now.

"Aren't black cats bad luck or something?" Candy shrugged.

"I don't care. I just want a darker colored cat." For once, Candy was being responsible. "Okay, time's up!" She needed to tone down her volume.

Candy washed the bleach from my hair and wrapped a towel around it. "I'm blonde again." I sighed. Candy clapped her hands.

"Now we look alike again." She had a big grin on her face. "Hey, I'll let you pick out the cat, all right?" I nodded. I really did not want another cat though.


	14. Chapter 14: N

-_**Novel at the New oNe**_-

* * *

I made a little stop at Cassie's before we went to the pet store. When I folded Castiel's shirt in half and picked up his cigarette packet from the floor I heard Candy gasp. "You're smoking again?" I shook my head. It took me a second to realize that I gave a half-lie. I had only smoked once and that almost two or something weeks ago now. It's not like I picked up the habit again, so Candy had nothing to worry about.

"No, it's Castiel's. I'm just giving it back, calm down." Candy looked like she wanted to say more but she just turned to the window.

"Don't take too long." She murmured. I shrugged. I took as long as I wanted. There was no rushing this volcano-lady.

I unzipped my jacket as I approached his door. I was freezing earlier, but the sun had managed to thaw me out in seconds. I bit my lip as I knocked on his door. Was it creepy that I remembered where he lived? I don't think so. There are only so many housings in this town. You either lived in the apartments, the neighborhood, or your own workplace it seemed.

It took Castiel a little while to answer his door. He raised an eyebrow when he turned to me. He was shirtless. Did he only have the shirt he had given me and his new shirt or something? I felt a little weird as he just stared at me, not talking. "Here." I dropped his things in his hands.

Castiel looked behind my back suddenly. "Uh, where's your sister?" I glanced at my car. Candy's head was turned down. She must have been on her phone.

"Why?" I asked. Last time I checked, Cassie and Candy weren't very fond of one another.

Castiel shrugged and crossed his arms. "I just want to talk to her." The air between us grew tense all of a sudden.

"What do you want Candy for?" I asked again. Were they secret friends or something? Castiel had once mentioned that Candy was too bubbly and annoying for his tastes while Candy said she didn't like how he looked so gruff all the time.

He reached out and grabbed my some of my hair. "Did Candy throw up on your head? What happened to you?" It was funny how I had almost forgotten about when I was just nervous about what everyone would think about it.

"My mom wanted me to go blonde again." I shrugged. He flicked my hair over my shoulder. "Do you not like it? I live to impress you, you know." He put his hand on his hip.

"You're cute." He caught me off guard. I stared ahead at chest for a moment. I personally didn't think I was cute. Where was he getting at? "I'll go put a shirt on if you're having trouble thinking." The shake of my head brought on his usual smirk. "You want me to take off my pants too then?" I shook my head again. This conversation had turned sexual very quickly.

"No, no. It's just that I'm not staying long. You see that Candy's waiting in the car." I looked behind me again. Candy was leaning her head against the window, a sign of impatience. She could wait a little longer I guess. "Did you just get out the shower or something?"

"Yeah. And I don't smell like a French whore anymore. Want to take a whiff?" I nodded. What did I have to lose? He suddenly pulled me into his arms and I got a faceful of Cassie's chest. I felt some stray water get on me in the process. I couldn't help but laugh as he began to swing us back and forth. "How do I smell then?" I pressed my nose against him.

"Woodsy I guess." He rattled me a bit.

"What else?" I laughed again. I have never been hugged like this before. It was new and hot and weird; all of my favorite adjectives.

"I don't know. I haven't memorized all the scents in the book yet." He squeezed me before he let go. "I'll see you later then." I said.

"Castiel, I will smuggle you with a spoon if you do not give me my hors d'oeuvres." I could recognize that velvety, monotonous voice anywhere. But I had never heard Lysander threaten anyone before, especially with a spoon. Castiel huffed when he turned around.

"You just try to smuggle me with a spoon and see what happens." Castiel threw a wink towards me. "See ya." He then shut the door. I listened to him and Lysander squabble for a second before I hopped back to Candy.

She was agitated when I returned to the car. "What took you so long?" She asked. I buckled my seatbelt inside of answering. What was supposed to say? _Castiel wanted me to smell his half-naked body right quick, nothing important. Oh, and he smells like a rainforest after a shower too. _

"Nothing," I muttered. "Let's go get this dumb cat." Candy flicked my arm.

"Don't call the cat dumb, you haven't even met it yet." I just started the car. "Hey, I just got an e-mail from the school."

"I haven't checked my e-mail in weeks." Candy sighed.

"It's a good idea to check it every once in a while. Or else you might miss out on stuff." She leaned against the window again. "It said that we're going to plan an open house when we get back to school." I was surprised that I didn't crash the car.

"_Open house_?" I repeated.

"Everyone's parents are going to be invited. And it's going to be a 1940's themed party. Meaning, we're going to have to set everything up and dress like we're from the 1940's." I know what party themes are sister dear. "This should be a good thing for you and Rosalya and Lysander."

"Why is that?"

"Well, Rosa and Lysander have a thing for Victorian clothing. So going up a few eras should be all right for them. And don't tell me that you forgot about your little vintage obsession?" I took my eyes off of the road to give her a quick glare.

"I don't have a vintage obsession." I muttered.

"Yes you do!" Candy bounced away from the car window. "You're the biggest oldie I know! You have a record player, a tape player, and a microphone from the 50's. And plus you can only beat me in pixel shooter games, you used to wear those housewife dresses all the time, and you have an old-timey singing voice." Well, Candy was an expert in listing off various things.

There was a time when I liked wearing "housewife" dresses. But they became skeletons in my closet when I traded them out for my band and rock influenced garb. My record player, tape player, and microphone were gifts from our grandfather before he passed away. I still occasionally played records and tapes from time to time, but I didn't really use it. And I just happened to be better in older video games than the modern ones. I could only argue with one of her points. "I can't help it if I have an old-timey singing voice." I grumbled.

Candy scoffed. "I still find it funny that you like these rock bands but you can only sing soul classics and old love ballads and stuff." My grandfather had taught me that it was good to like a variety of music. There was also a time when all I listened to were songs beyond my age but I eventually listened to more modern and immature music. Mother liked the change, so I kept it.

"Shut up." I said. We were nearing the pet shop. Hopefully Candy would start ranting about animals instead of my past habits.

"You know what would be great? If you preformed at the open house! You could bring your guitar and–" I swerved into the nearest parking spot I could find and practically jumped out of the car.

"Let's go pick out a cat and get home before my headache comes back." I heard Candy muttered something as she followed after me.

The pet store smelled horrible. I couldn't wait to grab a fur ball and get out. A man in a vest came up to us. He looked oddly familiar, but I didn't feel like asking who he was. It seems like I have met a lot of men who wear vests in this town. He greeted us with an emotionless face that could get Lysander running. "What are you two here for?" He asked.

"Can you show us your kittens?" Candy asked. He started walking ahead of us. Candy and I scrambled after him. He took us to a small pen that had at least five or so kittens prancing around inside of it.

"When you find one that you like, you can go and tell her." He pointed to a woman off in the corner before he walked away. I was just meeting loveable people left and right in this place.

I looked down at the kittens. There were three white ones, a black one, and a dark brownish one. I watched them bounce around their area. The white ones were running around everywhere while the black one was clawing at the gate.

I found myself fixed on the brown kitten though. It seemed smaller than the other ones, probably a runt of the litter. It seemed to trip over its own feet a bit and tried to fumble after the more active cats unsuccessfully. I liked that he was different than the other ones.

"I want this one." I said. Candy nodded and went to get the woman in the corner. She scooped it up and handed it to me.

"He's a little slower than the rest of the kits. And I think that he may have some anxiety, I'm not sure." Candy started pestering her with more questions about the cat. All we got was that he was very quiet and somewhat clingy.

She gave us a small kennel and smiled. "What would you like to name him?" Candy brought her finger to her chin.

"How about Brownie or Cocoa? Since he's brown and all." I looked down at him. Green eyes immediately peered up at me.

I stroked his head as I faced Candy again. "Let's name him Pepsi." Candy nodded but I could tell that she didn't like the name. She had named our previous cake Alaska; it wasn't like Pepsi was too outlandish.

I handed Pepsi to the pet lady and she stuck him in the kennel. "I hope you two take good care of little Pepsi here. Cats are a lot of responsibility and you need to show him a lot of love and care." Candy and I just nodded. We had heard the speech before. The lady did a few more things before she handed him over again. "I hope you have a nice day."

I waved with my free hand. "You too," Candy and I said at the same time. I poked her back.

"Don't talk when I'm talking you copycat." She rolled her eyes.

"Oh, nice one." I know.


	15. Chapter 15: O

-_**Oh baby, sOmething's up**_-

* * *

"Poke her, see if she moves."

"We are not poking her Armin."

"Oh c'mon, just once."

"Shut up Armin, before you wake her up."

I rolled over on my side. "I woke up the second you guys opened the door. Sounded like a herd of elephants." Candy smacked Armin's side.

"I blame you." She hissed. I yawned. Did Candy honestly think that she could sneak Armin, Alexy, Rosalya, and Kentin into my room successfully? That added one more point to my book.

I sat up and checked my side. Pepsi was curled up right next to me. I guess we got a heavy-sleeper of a cat. I wiped my eyes. "What's going on? I thought that only Armin and Kentin wanted kidnap me in my sleep." Armin grinned and Kentin's eyes widened. I didn't like their opposite reactions.

"We're not going to steal you _yet_, Candy just called us over." Candy hit Armin again.

"You can't steal a person, you steal property." Pepsi mewed and clawed my side suddenly. I scooped him up.

"Good morning dumb cat." I murmured. Candy huffed. She must be experiencing all kinds of heartache this morning.

"Quit calling the cat dumb for goodness sakes." Rosayla squealed and took Pepsi right out of my hands.

"Oh my goodness, when did you guys get a kitten? He's so adorable!" She continued to coddle the life out of Pepsi. He cried and tried to leap out of her arms, but to no avail.

I leaned against my headboard. "But seriously, why are you all in my room?" Alexy swung his hands around.

"So you know about the open house right? And how it's going to be a 1940's themed party?" I turned to Candy.

"Keep on telling people about my personal life, and there's going to be only one child in this family." She gave a sheepish smile and a nod.

"Well, I just figured that you could be able to help the most because Rosa doesn't know much about the 40's." Rosalya cooed and rubbed Pepsi against her face. He had calmed down some but I could still see that he was trying to get out of her arms.

"I don't! I just wear whatever Leigh makes for me." I looked at everybody for a second before I got out of bed.

"Be happy I don't sleep naked." I muttered. I pushed Kentin out of the way and went to my closet. It took a bit of rummaging around before I found what I was looking for. I pulled out a cardboard box and set it in the middle of the floor. I opened it and set whatever I found on the floor. There was my record player, old microphone, and the skeleton dresses.

I heard Rosalya put Pepsi down and lean over the box. "I wasn't expecting for you to have all of this." I shrugged and handed her a few dresses.

I stood up when they all surrounded the box. "Go wild. I have to take a leak." I heard Alexy say something about how I always ladylike before I left.

* * *

I don't know how, but break went by as quickly as air. Then again, I had spent the majority of it caring for Pepsi and planning with Candy and Crew. Also by the time I made it back to school, I wasn't concerned about what people would think about my new hair color.

Principal Pinky Pie called everyone in classroom B for an impromptu meeting. Apparently only juniors and seniors were going to help out with the party, which I found odd. Freshmen and sophomores should be ten times better at planning things since they're younger and more enthusiastic. But there was no arguing with the principal. Even her spit was law it seemed.

After she had dismissed us, I followed Candy out of the room. She was glued to Rosalya's hip for whatever reason. I must have missed out on when they had became the best of friends.

"So who's getting the banner, me or you?" Candy asked. Rosalya tapped her chin.

"Um, you can get it. I would prefer to get all of the outfits." Candy nodded. Rosalya then waved and pranced down the opposite end of the hallway.

Candy was oddly silent when we walked down the hall together. I wasn't really concerned about her quietness. The times that she shut her mouth were times to be grateful for me. I could meditate and think about my life choices whenever she wasn't flapping her tongue.

Yet when we got to our lockers, my moment to be enlightened was over. "I kind of told the principal something." She said. I slammed my locker shut.

"What did you tell her?" Candy coughed into her hand.

"I told her that you can sing and then Lysander said that he would write a song and I am really, really sorry it just kind of slipped out. Forgive me sis?" I couldn't even say anything.

I slipped my hat on. "Couldn't say I didn't see it coming," I said under my breath. Candy closed her locker too.

"Hey, if it makes you feel better, you just have to work on a song with Lysander and Castiel. You don't have to do any of the planning. Plus, you can sing whenever you want to. It's not like we're going to drag you out on a stage and put a spotlight on you and force for you to sing, okay?"

"Yeah, okay. I don't care." Candy smiled like she was relieved. She shouldn't be relieved. My wrath just hasn't set in yet. Sister dear better watch her back for the week.

"Good, good! Oh, here comes Lysander and Castiel now." I slowly turned around. These two were going to be on my back for the rest of the week. Oh sweet joy.

Lysander's eyebrows furrowed. I watched his eyes switch between Candy and I for a second. He then murmured, "Chrysanthemum and Candace Lynn."

"Yes, those are our legal names." I said. He frowned.

"I'm sorry. You two are wearing similar outfits. But now I know that you are certainly Chrys because Candy tends to keep snappy comments to herself." Candy coughed again. I rolled my eyes to her.

"Candy you can either take a damn lozenge or stop faking coughing." She coughed once more. She used to fake cough and sneeze all of the time when we were younger when she didn't want to talk.

"No, my throat seriously hurts." She rubbed her neck. "I'm going to go now. You three have fun." It was then when I realized that Cassie hadn't said a single word.

"Cat got your tongue Cassie?" I asked. He shook his head. He still wasn't talking. "Seems like it." He shook his head again with more vigor. Lysander snapped his fingers.

"Castiel was standing out in the rain and he developed a virus in his throat." I snorted in a laugh.

"What was he standing out in the rain for?" Lysander shrugged one shoulder.

"I tried to ask him, but he would not answer me." Lysander lowered his hands. "Let's go now."

The two led me underneath the stairway. I never noticed that there was a room there. It looked like an abandoned janitor's closet. Lysander directed me to a box to sit on before he sat on another box. Castiel placed himself at my feet.

Lysander took out his journal and a pen. "We were just told that we had to write a song, so let's go over ideas and I'll see if I can jot something down later." Castiel nodded.

"Well, you have to typical stuff like love and heartbreak." I said. "People especially sung about those things back in the day. But I want to write about something different." Castiel leaned against my legs. He had a heavy head.

"What would you like to sing about then?" Lysander asked, pen poised.

"I'm pretty sure that we have a small box of what we're allowed to write about. And it doesn't have to be anything special. All I used to write about whisky, war, and the world and stuff."

"Letter 'W'," Castiel said. His voice sounded horrible. I patted his head.

"Don't talk dear. It sounds like you're going through puberty again." He grabbed my hand when I tried to pull it away. "I don't want your redheaded germs Cassie." He tried to say something else, but it came out as a grunt. I sighed for the umpteenth time of the afternoon and petted his head. His hair was just as tangled as mine.

"_Dear_?" Lysander repeated. I decided not to give a snappy comment on that.

"Um, you write about the blues, but nothing too depressing. How about that?" Lysander wrote something down in his journal and stood up.

"I'm leaving you two alone." He said. I wrapped a strand of Castiel's hair around my finger in thought.

"I can't figure out why you wanted to stand out in the rain." I murmured. He cleared his throat. "And did you have your mouth open like a turkey when you were outside? You can drown that way you know." I clicked my tongue. "Or were you with a girl and decided to make out in the rain? I know how romantic you are."

"Shut up." I laughed. His voice sounded really bad.

"So you _were_ kissing someone in the rain? Who is this mystery girl?" He pushed my hand off of his head and stood up. "C'mon, tell me Cassie. I thought we were best friends now." He shook his head.

"I wasn't." He said. I shrugged and left the closet with him. We split in the middle of the hallway.


	16. Chapter 16: P

-_**Parliament on fire (Perhaps)**_-

* * *

I shoved a handful of lozenges onto Candy's lap and set a glass of water on her nightstand. She coughed loudly before she thanked me. I placed my hand on my hip and sighed. "I developed a theory on why you have a throat virus."

Candy hacked again. "What?"

"Yes. You know Castiel had a virus too from standing out in the rain. So I'm going to assume that you two got together to make out in the rain. You two are some dumb love struck idiots." Candy tried to glare at me, but it didn't work out.

"Shut up. I must have caught it from Kentin. He had a virus too."

"So you met out in the rain to make out with Kentin?" Candy leaned back into her pillows.

"Chrys, you develop the worst theories in the world." I shrugged. "Oh, and can you do me a favor?"

"What favor?" I asked.

"I promised to help out with this ballet class today before school. Can you fill in?" I switched my weight to my other leg.

"The open house is today, no way." Candy flashed me the doleful eye look and wheezed.

"Please Chrys? I don't want to disappoint all of those little girls." I shook my head. She turned away dramatically. "You know what it's like to live the ballerina dream. Getting up early every Thursday morning and putting on your leotard, tights, and shoes and tying your hair up in a bun. And then getting–"

"Shut up Chrys, I'm not wearing a damn tutu ever again." Pepsi leapt onto the bed suddenly. He curled up against Candy's side and promptly fell asleep. He had grown slightly bigger over the past week, but he still had kitten tendencies. And he was my little shadow around the house. I had also stepped on his tail on more than one occasion.

"Please Chrys?" She repeated. "For the little girls?" I shook my head again. There was no way that I was ever going back to a ballet class.

* * *

Multiple little girls were pulling on the hem of my shirt. I tried to swat them away but they were like swarms of bees, they would not quit.

"Candace, how come you're wearing this shirt today?" One brat asked.

"Yeah, it's totally too big for you!" Another one said.

"Where did you get these tights Candace?" I shrugged.

"From my closet," I muttered. All the little girls erupted into laughter. They then started chattering about how "Candace" was so funny and cool. I shooed them away from me again and removed my shirt. "Happy? It was cool outside."

A girl pouted. "You're being mean Candace Lynn." She whined. I shrugged again. I could feel the instructor giving me the eye from behind my back. I plastered on a wide smile and clasped my hands together.

"Who wants to put on their tutus?" I asked. They all cheered. I don't think that I was ever this excitable when I was a little girl.

* * *

I blame Candy for everything. I blame Candy for making me help out with the open house. I blame her for making me preform at the open house. I blame her for making me late to the open house. And I blame her for making me run around the school with a tutu on. But I had to admit that I liked the confused ballerina look, I have never done it before.

I didn't even bother to walk into the gym. I just went to the classroom beside it, the setup room. Rosalya immediately raced over to me. "Candy, I thought you were going to change before you got here?"

I pulled my spare shirt off and tried to ruffle down my tutu but it didn't really work out. "Candy's sick in bed, I'm everybody's twin for today." Rosalya looked irritated. "You look pretty." I said. And I wasn't lying. Rosalya was looking good right now. I'm sure that Rosalya could wear a seashell bra, fig leaf, and wooden sandals to school and still make everyone else look irrelevant.

She brightened up some but I could tell that she was still mad. "Thank you doll, I put a lot of work into my outfit." She dropped a dress into my arms. "Put this on. Oh, and keep the bun but add a little bang. Come back to me for some lipstick and then you'll look very retro-chic." She then slammed the door shut behind her.

"So angry," I murmured. I looked down at the dress she had handed me. It was orange and strapless. I fingered the materiel for a second before I put it on. The color orange was another thing that brought nostalgia. If only I had my hat, I'm sure that it would have matched the dress.

* * *

As the day wore on, I didn't feel like myself. I don't know if it was the ruby red lipstick or the fact that these ballet slippers were squeezing the life out of my feet, but I just didn't.

Lysander had ended up singing the song because of my absence. And he did a very good job according to Kim and Violette. Lysander was a bit apathetic towards me when I tried to talk to him. I guess that that was his way of expressing anger or whatever.

I really began to feel out of my element when Rosalya appeared out of thin air and began to reapply my lipstick. When she finished she cooed, "He's coming." I rubbed my lips together while I turned around. Of course it was Castiel, of course. His hair was slicked back and he was wearing a dress shirt and tie. But he had on a leather jacket instead of a suit jacket.

"Hey Dottie," he greeted. I slumped against his chest.

"How's your throat?" I asked. He wrapped his arm around my waist when I pulled away from him.

"It's way better now. Rosalya told me that Candy, Melody, and Alexy caught the virus too." I leaned into his side as we journeyed to the other side of the room.

"I didn't know that Alexy caught it. And Melody needs to stop getting sick so that I can finally meet her."

"You've been here for months now. I'm sure that you had plenty of opportunities to talk to Melody." He handed me a paper cup from the concession stand. It looked like some sort of fruit punch.

"Yeah, but I never got around to it. Talking to Melody isn't exactly high up on my to-do list, you know?" I took a sip of the drink. It tasted extremely bitter, as if whoever made it decided to skip on the sugar.

Castiel poked my cheek. "What was that face about?" He asked. I handed him the cup.

"Find out." I said. He took the cup from me and drunk it without hesitation. Considering that we shared a mountain of soda together before, I guess that this was no big deal.

His hand tightened on my hip and he threw the cup back down on the table. "Why did you do that to me Dottie?" I smiled. I felt a little more like myself now.

"You gave it to me first." I said. Castiel led us away from the stand to the entrance. We looked out the window for a second before he spoke up.

"I bet that it's going to rain all week." He murmured. A light rain was beginning to drizzle across the schoolyard. "Do you want to go stand out there?" He laughed to himself while I considered it. Going out in the rain with Castiel should make up for my missed performance.

I tugged on his hand and pushed the doors open. "Let's go." I felt him reel back a bit.

"Once again, I was just kidding." I shrugged and pulled him outside.

"And I'm not." The rain pitter pattered over our heads, but it didn't feel like anything too extreme. I took his other hand as we walked through the courtyard. "You make me stupid." He squeezed my hands back.

"Ditto."


	17. Chapter 17: Q

-_**Queen and king of disaster**_-

* * *

Castiel took both of my hands between his and slowly rubbed them together. I could feel the rain beginning to pick up but I didn't really care. "Are you trying to warm me up?"

He brought our hands to his face and smirked. "I figured that if I could warm your hands then I could warm your heart too." I snorted.

"You need to thaw yours out first before you take care of mine." He sent our hands down.

"Are you going to thaw me out then?" I licked my lips. I immediately got the taste of Rosalya's nasty lipstick on my tongue.

"Maybe later," I said. We looked up at each other. His eyes were the same shade as the clouds that were beginning to gather in the sky. I almost had to turn my neck up all the way just to meet his eyes. "You're too tall." I muttered. He swung our arms a bit.

"Short stuff," he said. I closed the space between us and stepped on his shoes. His shoes were suspiciously similar to Lysander's. "You're going to break my toes." I leaned onto the tips of my feet and grabbed his arms to pull myself up. We were nearly face-to-face now.

"Impossible. I'm one-hundred pounds soaking wet and I'm wearing ballet slippers." He pressed our foreheads together. I could smell the punch on his breath.

"I didn't know Dottie was a ballerina." I let my eyes close.

"We all have our secret lives before and after school." The rain began to intensify over our heads. I opened my eyes. "We should go in soon before we both get sick." I felt his hands move up to the back of my head.

"But first," he whispered. He pulled my face to his and pressed our lips together. My eyes widened. Our noses bumped against each other. He tilted his head to the side and undid my hair. I brought myself down when he let go.

I rubbed my thumb over the side of his hand. "Why did you do that?" I asked. He was still running his hand through my hair.

"Because I'm stupid," he snickered. I reached up and swiped his bottom lip with my finger.

"I got lipstick on you." I wiped it on the hem of my dress. I hung my head down again. My face was heating up faster than a gas stove. "Do you, uh, want to . . ." I trailed off. Little Chrys was coming out and she was embarrassed and stuttering. What happened to the great volcano lady?

He picked my head up. "Want to what?" I glanced off to the parking lot.

"The rain is getting heavier so we should go somewhere." He followed my gaze.

"Where do you have in mind?" I leaned against his chest again.

"Drive me anywhere." I said. He took my hand again and walked us to my car.

* * *

I looked out the window and watched the scenery rush past us. I brought my hand out to catch a few raindrops. The car stopped suddenly. I turned over to Castiel. "I've never been here before." I said. It looked like we were just out of town. There were a few trees and I could make out the welcoming sign. "You take people here often?" I asked.

He turned up the car heater. "Not really." He pulled his arm around me. "Come closer." I leaned over the armrest to him. He roped his hands around my head again and pulled me in. Our noses bumped into each other again.

"Trying to break my nose?" He pulled my hair back.

"Quit asking questions all the time." I grabbed the front of his jacket.

"Sorry." He kissed the corner of my lips. "Hey Cassie." He closed his eyes.

"What?"

"We kissed in the rain, that's so cliché." He laughed through his nose. I reached up to kiss him but he pulled away. My lips brushed against the collar of his shirt. "Cas," I groaned. He chuckled again and knocked our mouths together. His lips seemed a little drier this time.

I let my eyes flutter shut. I heard him inhale deeply through his nose before he pulled us closer together. He then lowered his hands from my face to my side. His teeth suddenly crashed against mine and pain immediately shot through my mouth. "That hurt." I rumbled.

Castiel sighed. "Open your mouth then." I huffed.

"I don't want your fruit punch breath." I said. He nuzzled his face into my neck.

"You drank it first." My shoulders flinched when his breath touched me. "Can I smoke before we go back?" I nodded.

"Can I have one too?" Still holding onto me, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his cigarettes. Yet when I took one out he put it away. I raised an eyebrow but I stayed silent as he lit it. He pressed the cigarette against my lips.

"You're going to smell like this later you know." I nodded and took a puff. The back of my head buzzed softly as the nicotine began to set in.

He took the stick from me and smoked it himself. He kissed my cheek before he moved back properly in the driver's seat and started the car up.


	18. Chapter 18: R

-_**Right until the bitteR end**_-

* * *

Lysander didn't seem to notice anything when we came back. He didn't ask about why our clothes were wet and clinging to our skin, the lipstick on Castiel's shirt collar, why my hair was messed up, or why we smelled like smoke. He just asked, "Did you guys leave?"

Castiel shrugged. "Maybe," he answered. Lysander threw one glance at me before he went to another side of the gym. I felt Cassie curl a strand of my hair around his finger. "Are your parents here?" I softly shook my head so I wouldn't disrupt his hair twirling time.

"My mom is here but she has a flight to take in the morning, so she's probably asleep right now." He pulled me a little off to the side of the gym so we weren't blocking the entrance. "Are your parents here?" I asked.

"They're in Croatia last time I checked." His voice took a different tone as he spoke. He didn't seem sad or angry that his parents weren't here. He sounded like he simply didn't care. He added a nonchalant shrug of the shoulder too to his words before he played with my hair again. I am beginning to suspect that he either has a hair fetish or a minor obsession with my hair in general.

"Do they travel a lot? Mine do." He shrugged again.

"My dad's a pilot and my mom's a flight attendant." I blinked and looked up at him. Some things made sense now. Alexy had once hinted that Castiel lived alone but I never really paid much mind to it. But since his parent's had jobs in the travel field they must hardly ever be around.

"My mom just likes to travel around a lot. That's why we move every few years, so she has a spot to drop us off before she goes across the world or whatever." He took his hands off of my hair then.

"Where is she going to tomorrow?" He asked.

"I think she said something about Belgium last night. I have to ask Candy, she pays attention." Castiel snorted. I reached up and tweaked the tip of his nose. "Stop snorting, it's unattractive." He held my nose between his middle and forefinger.

"Excuse me Dottie, but you snort way more than I do." I tried to pry his hand off of me but he wasn't budging. "Can I just take your nose off? It keeps on getting in the way when we kiss."

I put my hands on my hips. "Your nose is the one that gets in the way." My voice came out all nasally and he laughed. I grabbed his hand again. "Get off Cassie." He shook his head.

"Let me take this pesky thing off your face first." He began to softly yank at my nose. "It's fighting back." I put both of my hands on his.

"I need my nose for stuff." He then released my nose with a chuckle.

"And by 'stuff' you mean breathing right? Which is a pretty important thing if I do say so myself." I huffed.

"How about we take your nose off? It's bigger than mine." He touched the bridge of his nose in thought.

"My nose may be bigger, but yours is the one that gets in the way. Look, just watch." He leaned down and quickly kissed me. Our noses bumped into each other in the process. He smirked when he pulled back. "See? That was definitely your nose." I could only smile.

"Fine then, take my nose off. But don't get annoyed by the sound of me breathing through my mouth." He tilted his head to the side before he kissed me again.

"Then I guess we have to make a breathing schedule for you." I went to slap his arm but I ended up just grabbing it.

"You're unbelievable! I can't work with a breathing schedule. I'll faint on the first hour." He just shrugged.

"Not my problem, as long as your nose isn't bumping into mine I'm happy." I squeezed his arm.

"Whatever." I muttered. He kissed my forehead. I suddenly got a weird sensation in the back of my mind, like someone was staring at me. I glanced to the side and saw Rosalya and Lysander standing there, eyebrows raised and arms crossed. I sighed. "How did we not know they were there?"

Castiel looked at them too. "I don't know. Weird." I nodded in agreement.

Rosalya broke out into a smile and waved her hand in between us. "Tell me when _this_ happened." She said. Lysander rubbed his chin but he looked a little interested also.

Castiel took my hand. "Like an hour ago." He said. Rosalya nudged Lysander's side.

"What did I say? I saw this coming, I called it and everything. At first I thought she was leaning towards Armin, but this was just too obvious." Lysander didn't comment. "Oh my goodness, you better invite me to the wedding. And if I have to wear one of those hideous bridesmaids' gowns then don't even bother actually." She turned back to me. "So what are your children's names going to be?"

I held in a snort. I didn't want Castiel to call me out on it. "How about Nicotiana and Loki?" Rosalya gave an exasperated sigh.

"Oh no, no, no. Let's not make your children sound like future drug addicts dearie." She snapped her fingers. "I can already see it. Twins – two boys too – named Dimitry and Viktor." Castiel shook his head.

"Just name them Hey and You. That'll be so much easier." Rosalya tapped Lysander's side.

"They're hopeless Lys. Let's go talk to some mindful people." Lysander immediately walked away with her. I was about to ask Cassie why Lysander was giving us the silent treatment but I held my tongue.

* * *

I washed Candy's face with a cool rag and placed a glass of cranberry juice by her side. "Does Princess Candace Lynn want anything else before the haggard Chrysanthemum retires for the night?" She gave me a weary look all of a sudden. I sat at her feet. "Is something wrong?" I asked. She nodded.

"Mom told me something before she started packing." She said. I scooted closer to her.

"What?" Candy threw her arm over her face.

"She said she doesn't like it here." I felt my heart drop to my feet and then rush up to my head.

"When?" I asked. Candy moved her arm back some and peeked at me with one eye.

"June." She murmured. I looked down at my hands. "Hey, look on the bright side. At least we get to finish school." I couldn't even find the strength to nod.

"Cool." I patted her leg. "Night Candy," I whispered. I didn't mean for my voice to drop though.

"It's going to be all right Chrys, okay? We're going to make all new friends. And it's going to be senior year so we don't have to follow mom around anymore." I just stood up.

"Cool." I repeated.


	19. Chapter 19: S

-_**Seems like paradiSe**_-

* * *

Candy seemed to cheer herself up by dressing me up for the day. She kept on babbling about how she was thankful that it was Saturday or else I would be sabotaging the school in anger. If I was at school I wouldn't be destroying it right now. I wasn't angry. And I didn't feel sad either. I just felt internally numb, I couldn't describe the emotion. It was too weird and new and I didn't like it.

After Candy had forced me into some white dress she had found in the back of her dresser and a few of Alexy's flower crown headbands, she stepped back to admire her work. "You look really nice. I don't think that this outfit would have suited your black hair." I just shrugged.

"Can I go?" I asked. She frowned.

"Are you okay? Usually whenever you find out that we have to move you're cussing up a storm and kicking everything in sight." Certainly me not swearing and hitting things was "okay" behavior, right?

"Yeah I'm fine. I just want to go somewhere." She tossed a pair of high tops to me.

"I won't make you wear heels or boots or anything." She flopped back on her bed. "Oh, and you have to help me pack this evening." I don't understand why she said that, there were still plenty of boxes around.

* * *

I played with the phony petals of my hairband while I waited for Castiel to answer his door. I was surprised to see Lysander open it. "Hi Lysander," I greeted. He nodded and widened the door for me.

"Castiel is in his room." He then sat down on the couch. Was he mad at me? It was hard to tell. It looks like I'll be talking to him later.

I travel up to Castiel's room. Demon the dog was staring at me when I knocked on his door. "You know you don't have the knock, right? You've been to my house way too many times now." He must have thought that I was Lysander. When I entered his room I saw that he was up-side-down on his bed. "Sorry, I thought you were Lys. But what a pleasant surprise nonetheless."

I went over to him and caught his face before he could sit up. I pressed a kiss against his bottom lip. "Spider-Man kiss," I murmured when I pulled away. Castiel grinned but I couldn't. He sat up and pulled me into his lap.

"I can't stand Spider-Man. He's so sensitive and cries all the time." I wrapped my arms around his torso and pressed myself into his chest.

"Yeah." I breathed him in. He still smelled woodsy. I couldn't think of anything to say. As silence enveloped us he rubbed my back.

"What's wrong?" He asked. I tightened my grip on him.

"I don't know. I think I'm overreacting." A lump began to form in my throat and my eyes were starting to itch. "I've only been here for four or five months now, I'm definitely overreacting." My voice quivered at the end of my sentence.

"Chrys, what happened?" I felt his fingers trail down to my chin. I shook him off.

"Don't do that." I didn't mean to sound bitchy. I didn't like for people to see me cry, not even Candy. Tears were pricking my eyes and the chances were too risky. "I'm sorry, I . . ." I closed my eyes and tried to hold in my incoming sob but it came out anyway.

Castiel rubbed the space in between my shoulder blades. "Calm down and tell me what's wrong."

I hiccupped. "I'm moving." I murmured. His hands stopped and my shoulders began to shake. "C-Castiel?" I stuttered. I took one of my arms from around him and wiped my eyes. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to–"

"It's okay." He continued to rub my back again. "It doesn't matter how long you stay somewhere, you're going to be sad when you move whether it's been years or days." I wiped my eyes again but it didn't seem to help.

"I know but–" He wrapped his fingers around my chin again. "Stop it." But he brought me up to face him anyway. "Castiel," I whimpered. I sounded like a kicked puppy, it was horrible. He frowned when I met his eyes.

"When are you leaving?" He asked. I sniffled.

"Next month," I answered. I looked down at our laps. "I'm sorry." I said again.

He combed his hands through my hair. "Stop apologizing, it's not your fault." I looked up at him again. He seemed numb too. "Do you want to get something to eat?" He asked. I nodded. I guess I have to postpone my talk with Lysander until later.


	20. Chapter 20: T

**AshleyMCL**:_ Aw, I didn't mean to make you cry. ;( well, I hope that this (rushed) chapter makes things a little happier. _

* * *

_**The dinner club.**_

* * *

If I was wearing handcuffs, then I would've been a real criminal. But for now my hands were at my sides and I wasn't resisting arrest. There was no point. Of course the girl with the orange hat was the one who had ordered for the southeast hall to be painted orange. I hadn't really thought that one out.

Nathaniel frowned as he lead me to the detention room. "I hope that you and your friends have fun in nine-hour solitary. And also,"—he pulled out a piece of paper and a pen and handed them to me—"you are to write an 1,000 word essay on how you personally view yourself and the people around you. No talking or leaving the room. Feel free to sleep when you finished your essay too." He gave me a little nod of confirmation. "Have a nice day Chrysanthemum."

I threw the paper and pen on the desk next to me and plopped myself in the chair. I have had day long detentions before, but I knew that this was one going to be boring. I didn't have a group full of people with me to reminisce about our crimes and conduct an escape plan. The only other people in the room were a chocolate milk drinking, chip eating gaming addict, a pierced up calico chick, and my cherry-headed sweetheart.

I moved to sit between Armin and Castiel. I threw a smirk at the both of them as I pulled my hat on. "You two got caught too?" I asked.

Armin crushed the chocolate milk bottle in his hand. "Obviously," he said. He then produced another milk bottle from thin air. "Guys, I think I have an addiction." He ripped the silver tab from the bottle and chugged it down like it was a beer bong.

I looked over his desk. There were at least five other emptied chocolate milks. "You're just a few bottles away from therapy Monsieur." Castiel pulled on my shirt sleeve.

"You look older in plaid." He said. I pulled my arm away from him.

"I prefer the world 'flannelette,' thank you very much." He scooted his seat closer to mine.

"Are you feeling better?" I smiled and patted his arm.

"Of course. Tacos solve everyone's problems."

"Can you guys shut up for just one second?" I turned to Charlotte. Even though she was dressed up in the final colors of the rainbow, she didn't look very joyous. "I am trying to think." She tapped her pen against the desktop.

I leaned back towards her. "It shouldn't be that hard to write an essay about yourself."

"No, I finished the essay the first ten minutes that I was here. I'm trying to think of a way to get out of here." I grinned. It looks like it took Charlotte to turn up the excitement. I was betting on Armin.

"Got any ideas?" I asked. She raised an eyebrow at me.

"You act like you want to help me." I nodded.

"Of course I want to help! Now, I don't have anything in particular to do, but I kind of don't want to hang out at this school all day." I heard Armin gulp down another milk before he looked back at us.

"I wouldn't mind breaking out of here too." He said.

We all glanced at Castiel. He just shrugged and brushed something off of his precious jacket. "Whatever, I don't care." He mumbled.

I nodded again. "Okay, so it's a plan. What do you have so far Charlotte?" She stopped tapping her pen. A look of what I believe was supposed to be surprise was on her face. I guess that she really was the odd one out in Amber's little group.

"Well, I know that Nathaniel and Melody are in the student council room going through the school's paperwork right now. So there's a slim chance of getting caught by them since they are on the other side of the school. And I know that Nathaniel has a habit of checking in every fifteen minutes." Charlotte had a sharp eye. The criminal in her was greater than it was in me. "Shermansky, Faraize, and Agatha are all in the teacher's lounge, so we have a higher chance of being caught by them."

Armin held a barbequed chip up in between us. "I saw Principal Shermansky go home earlier. I think she has a vet appointment or something."

A smirk appeared and disappeared on Charlotte's face in a split second. "Well that's good. Faraize and Agatha are pushovers. So if we get caught by them the punishment shouldn't be too severe."

Footsteps sounded down the hall suddenly. We all scattered back in our respective seats and hunched over our essays. I scribbled my name on top of mine when I felt Melody look over my shoulder.

She tapped my paper. "You might get assigned more words if you don't finish your work." She said. She and Nathaniel then left.

"That was a close one." I breathed out.

"Yeah." Armin said. We all circled around Charlotte again.

She pointed to the window. "We're on the first story, so this should be easy." We all got up and went over to the window. We were facing the back of the school, which was considerably better than trying to escape through the front of school. Gives us less troubles.

Armin went through first. He became upset when one of his chocolate milks fell from his pocket and exploded on the ground.

I patted his shoulder when I went through the window. "I'm sure that you have a million more in those Mary Poppins pockets of yours." He gave a little sniffle.

"Sure," he said.

Castiel ended up having to help Charlotte out of the window because her dress was apparently too tight to move around in.

"Thanks." She said. Charlotte then walked in front us. I followed after her.

"Where are you going?" I asked.

Her ponytail swung dangerously close to my face when she stopped walking. "You weren't much help, but thank you." I didn't know how she managed to insult me and thank me in the same sentence, but I'll take it.

"You're welcome I guess. But you didn't answer my question." She continued walking again. I guess I'll never find out where she had to go to so desperately.

Castiel put his arm over my shoulder as we walked behind Armin. "Yeah, I got a problem." He pulled out another chocolate milk from his infinity supply.

"When did your little milk addiction start?" I asked.

He shrugged one of his shoulders as he slurped yet another drink. "Probably yesterday, I don't know." He then threw the bottle on the ground and pulled out his phone. Armin glanced behind us and smiled. "I'd love to hangout with you two lovebirds, but I gotta go."

"Where are you going?" I asked. He put his hand on his hip and groaned. "Wow, I'm sorry. I didn't know that it was National Don't Tell Chrys about Your Whereabouts Day."

Armin shook his head. "I have to meet up with Alexy at the mall since your sister canceled on him for some reason."

"Weird." I said. Candy usually drops everything for a shopping spree, especially for Rosalya and Alexy too. "Have fun though."

Armin rolled his eyes. "That's going to be hard." He then walked off into the horizon also.

Castiel sighed. "I want tacos again." He stated.

"Then let's go get tacos again." We then proceeded to have a romantic walk to the (least) authentic Mexican stop in town.


	21. Chapter 21: U

_**Ultraviolence.**_

* * *

I loved my friends, all of them: Lysander, Rosalya, Alexy, Kim, Violette, Iris, and Kentin; and I already liked my new friends Leigh and Melody.

But at the moment I did not like them. They had dragged me to the worst place in the world.

The beach.

I was sitting on a chair that Kentin had laid out for me and sulking while almost everyone else was playing an intense game of Frisbee.

"Oh my goodness Chrys, it's him." I looked off to where Candy was pointing at. Beach boy was approaching us, and quickly too. "What should I do? I don't want to see him right now." Candy's panic was hilarious.

"I thought that you guys were dating? What happened?"

"I saw him flirting with these other girls so I gave him some tuna fish water, since he hates tuna. He hasn't talked to me since." She grabbed my arm. "Chrys, help me!"

"Hello lovelies!" Too late.

Candy frowned. "What? I thought that you didn't want to see me again."

He shook his head. "The tuna water was certainly a surprise, but apples she'll be, I wanted to see you again." He took her hand and pulled her out of her seat. He winked towards me. "I promise to bring her back unharmed."

"Chrys!" Candy yelled. I waved to them. I couldn't intrude on their summer love, that would be rude of me.

"So you're just going to let her get kidnapped like that?" I felt myself brighten up at the sound of Castiel's voice. Rosalya had said that there was a chance that he wouldn't show up since he didn't like the beach either.

I gestured for him to take Candy's seat. "Candy is too high maintence. I have to put on the clothes she picks out, watch the movies she likes, bake for her whenever she's sad, make her breakfast every morning, wake her up, and help her with her makeup." I lean back against my chair and crossed my legs. "Without her around I can finally relax."

Castiel crossed his arms and continued standing. "You relax too much already. You should probably…" I glanced up at him when he trailed off.

"What? Do you want me to find her? This beach is too big and sandy for me to search it." He shook his head.

"You have feet." He said. I folded my feet underneath the chair at that. Castiel took a step towards me. "Wait, don't hide them." What was his malfunction?

"Castiel has a foot and hair fetish." I stated.

He huffed, kneeled in front of me, and took my feet from under the chair. "I just haven't seen your feet before, so this is exciting for me." He threw some sand on my feet. "Consider this a milestone in our relationship." I kicked the sand off of my feet. My sullenness was coming back now.

"I'm sure that I said this before, but you are really weird."

Smirk. "Says the little girl who wore a beanie to the beach." I snatched my hat off of my head.

"Alexy and Rosalya got me and Candy matching swimsuits, so I brought my hat so people could tell the difference between us." I stretched out of my chair then. I guess I couldn't just sit on a bundle of anger during the whole beach trip. Plus, this chair was uncomfortable for my back.

I outstretched my arms to hug Castiel and he obliged. "Oh, you can see my stomach too. Are you going to celebrate that?"

I felt his hands slip down and begin to prod at my stomach. I was tempted to sit back down when he stopped. "You're not ticklish?" He asked. I shook head and let go of him.

"Yeah, you're a weird child." I said.

He lifted up my arms and tried to tickle me again but he only got a glare. "You're the weirdo who is insensitive to touch."

I sighed. "You know, I came out to have a good time and I'm honestly feeling so attacked by you right now." He wrapped me up in another hug.

"Stop it, you love me and you know it." For some reason my heart did a giant thump at that. Stupid teenage girl emotions, making me all sweaty and nervous.

"I don't know. I think you love yourself more than I do." I stepped back from him again. "Right buddy?"

Frown. "In case you didn't know, I'm not your buddy."

"What? We're not buddies? Then have we upgraded to best friends?" He gripped the back of my head and pressed kisses all over my face. I smiled even though I was a little annoyed by his sudden affection. "Castiel, you're smothering me."

He kissed my forehead a few more times. "Do you let your best friends treat you like this?" I shrugged.

"You're my special best friend." I said.

Scowl. "We're not best friends." Whoa, I could strap a straddle on my heart right now and rent it out for bull riding.

"So, uh, are you suggesting something?" He shrugged. "It's kind of early to go steady right? I'm not saying that I don't want for you to be my boyfriend or anything. And I'm leaving soon so—" He pressed his finger against my lips.

And the great smirk returns. "Stop rambling." He removed his finger with a gentler smile. "Girlfriend," he added.

My interrupted ramble did make some sense though. I guess the opinion on when to go steady was different from person to person. And I was still new to this relationship mess too. Also, us being all boyfriend-girlfriend was just going to hurt even more when I move.

But to heck with logic. "Boyfriend," I nodded.

Castiel's cheeks flushed pink. I didn't know that he gets stings by the embarrassment bug too. "Girlfriend," he repeated. He scratched the back of his head. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

"We're breaking up already? We just made all of this official literally a few seconds ago."

"No Dottie." He pointed his chin to the south side of the beach, where the parking lot was. "I just want to talk really quick."

By the waist, he guided me away from everyone else. He was silent the entire journey. I grew nervous every time I felt the sand sink in between my toes.

He stopped in front of Leigh's car (which was black, great) and leaned against the hood. "I want to know more about you." He said. I let out the breath that I was holding. I was getting all anxious for no reason.

"Ask away Cassie poo."

"Remember the night when I took you out to the concert, and you refused to go to your car at first?" I nodded. Where was he going with this? "Well, I asked you how your dad would feel if you didn't bring your car home and you said that 'he's too dead to care.'" The air around me froze. "I thought that it was just the alcohol speaking, but I wanted to talk to you about it."

My hand tightened around my beanie. "Yeah, my dad died a while back." I said. "I'm over it, but a lot of things remind me of him. He liked beanies for some reason, his favorite color was orange, he smoked the same brand of cigarettes that you do, he only drove black cars, he was a cocky bastard like you can be at times." I slipped my hat on before I could tear the threads with my squeezing. "A lot of shit happened to me in elementary school."

"Like what?" Castiel asked. His voice was hollow.

"My dad was a fisherman, so he spends a lot of time in the water obviously. One day there was a boating accident and the sea took him. I'm surprised that my mom decided to move here because she has a phobia of water. I guess that this beach must be a reason as to why we're leaving so soon.

"And then I had a random cancer scare just to find out that I wasn't sick at all, but misdiagnosed. I had almost started chemo too. But my grandmother had grew really sick in the same year, and that really weighed down on my mom. So she took a trip to Italy, and that's when her traveling addiction began.

"And then I became a bad kid in middle school. My motto was to live like tomorrow didn't exist back then. But Candy kind of forced me to clean up my act before we started high school." I let out another breath. "And that is the autobiography of Chrysanthemum Pomp."

"You've been through a lot." He murmured. I shook my head.

"Not really. I mean, my life really plummeted when my dad died and my grandma got sick, but it's all right. I let out all of my anger and stuff back in junior high. Candy's little interventions got me under control." I kicked a pebble that was near my foot. "Sorry for talking too much. You asked about my dad and I gave you my life story."

"That's okay. I'm going to need for you to stop apologizing to me all the time though." When I took my attention off of the pebble I saw that he was facing away from me. I felt a little lighter and airy, like a huge weight of coffee was taken off of my shoulders. "You're pretty strong."

I was taken aback. "I am? No, not really."

"You're strong, take my compliment dammit."

"Fine. I'm strong." He kissed the tip of my nose.


	22. Chapter 22: V

**_Violette and Kim, the heartbreakers._**

* * *

Alexy would not get off of my back; almost literally. For some reason when Candy had ran off he had decided to follow me around.

"You look like you just rolled out of bed and went to school. Did you even try this morning? Are those pajamas?"

I tried to shake Alexy off of me, but he wasn't budging. "Damn koala," I said. I didn't know where the koala thing came from, nothing seemed to be making sense today.

"Hey, you treat Candy like this you know." I shrugged. "Are you okay?" No. Of all things I do not want to have Alexy worry over me.

"I'm fine. It's just an off-day for me." I took my beanie off when I reached my destination. "I'm under art room arrest for escaping detention and I'm not looking forward to it."

Alexy glanced at the art room's door. "Armin was put in the gardening club for the day because he escaped detention too." I snickered. That was one positive thought for the morning.

"That's a sight to see. I bet he's hating every second of the plants and sunshine and bugs right now." I then gave Alexy a quick hug and slipped into the room.

Why wasn't this room pink and purple? Did the Sugarplum Fairy forget to tap it with her wand before she departed from Sweet Armois into the night? This didn't make any sense.

The art room was completely blank. The walls were unpainted and the floor was made up of pale, mismatched tiles. If it weren't for the tons of tables that had random artworks stacked on them, then I wouldn't have thought that this was the art room at all.

"Our delinquent has arrived!" Who said that? I am not delinquent.

Assumed art teacher/undercover Sugarplum Fairy walked over to me. I would have put down fine arts as my elective instead of communications if I knew that I would get this hot teacher.

I didn't care if she called me a delinquent now. "Hi, I'm Chrys." She took my hand before I could even offer it and shook it heartily.

"Hello darling! Welcome to the art room. I'm sorry that's so messy. I was told that you would be staying here at the last notice." Once again, this room looked untouched and abandoned if it weren't for the tables.

"No, it's really clean." She giggled. Lysander came in second for the Heavenliest Voice contest compared to her.

"Quit sucking up to Auntie, Chrys." Kim came over to us with Violette alongside her. I had forgotten that Kim liked crafts. Alexy told me that she was in the plastic art club or something once.

Alexy is an information broker that doesn't ask for money, that gossip boy.

"I'm not sucking up." I said. "You call her Auntie?" Kim nodded.

"Or you could call her Agatha. She doesn't prefer to go by her surname." Violette piped up.

Agatha made a little squealing sound. It was angelic. "Oh, and I want you to know that your day here isn't going to feel like a punishment. I'm not going to make you help out or anything, and you're free to talk to the students that come and go." Where the hell was the counselor's office so I can make this my permanent class?

"Thanks Auntie!" I said. My voice reeked happiness. The air in this room was changing me.

She cleared a table for me to sit down in. I wished that I could see the gardening club from the window. I imagined that Armin was throwing a temper tantrum in puddle of chocolate milk and destroyed hopes right now.

Now I was curious as to where Charlotte and Castiel were taken. And I also never knew why Charlotte was in detention or why she wanted to leave so soon too. Oh well, it's none of my business.

"Auntie Agatha." I called out. She spun around with a paintbrush in hand.

"Yes darling?" She asked.

"Do you know where the other people who were in detention with me are?"

She nodded. "Armin is in the gardening club and I don't think that he's very happy about it. Charlotte is in the robotics club. And Castiel is—potatoes!" I almost jumped back in my seat. Agatha had a crazy streak in her. Yes.

"_Potatoes_?" I repeated.

She fiddled her paintbrush in the air and shook her head. "I'm sorry. I just remembered that I had packed myself a hot potato to eat for lunch." She sent the brush down on a random chair. "Would you like some toast dear?"

"Naw." I leaned back in my seat. "Where is Castiel again?"

"You have to answer her Auntie. She'll die if she doesn't know where her little boyfriend is." Kim sneered.

I snorted toward Kim, which felt nice, since I've been holding in snorts all week. "My boyfriend isn't little." I said. "He's the second tallest guy in the school I think."

"Castiel is your boyfriend?" Violette asked. She sounded surprised. How did she get left out of the program? Castiel was PDA's biggest fan and she had to had seen us hug or hold hands at least once during the beach shindig.

"Yeah. We've been together for about a week, so it's okay if you didn't know."

Violette still looked shocked for some reason. "But Castiel is so, um, _you know_." I saw her fingers tighten around her portfolio.

"What, unsociable and sarcastic?" She blushed and began to grip her folder like it was the sleeve of a thief that had stole her money. I could practically hear the poor portfolio crying out in anguish.

"Well, not those words exactly, but he seems kind of hard to get along with."

"Yeah, I guess you could say I'm kind of stunned from this whole thing too. I mean, it took us a little while to become friends. But then this and that happened, and, boom, we're together." I tried to laugh to ease Violette's nerves some, but I wasn't successful. "He's a really nice guy once you break through that thickheaded shell of his. He won't stop suffocating me hugs and kisses and stuff, it's funny really."

She cleared her throat. "It's just a little odd to me, sorry." Her portfolio was probably taking its final breathes by now. "I bet that he's hurting on the inside right now." My ears perked up at that.

"Why, because I'm leaving?" She gave a small nod.

"His last girlfriend left him too." I was going to go insane with all this heartache.

"She did?"

"Yeah, she just straight up left him." Kim chimed in. "She wanted to pursue a music career or whatever and she had to drop out of school."

"She was really cool and nice." Violette said. "Everybody missed her when she left."

"We're going to miss you too." Heartbreak is quite a horrible feeling.

"What was Castiel's last girlfriend like?" I asked, trying to change the topic.

"I don't think that it's our business to tell you." Kim said.

"Why not?"

"Ladies!" All of our heads whipped toward Agatha. I was a bit thankful that she had interrupted the conversation. "I need help with these boxes!" Agatha opened the door and revealed a truckload of boxes.

She never gave an explanation as to what were in those boxes, but I have a few theories.

* * *

_A/N:_ **Ten minutes later, I just realized that I accidentally put an inside joke in here. **

**I was looking up the definition of the word "naw" and the example sentence was: _"Want some toast?" "Naw." _**

**And that reminded me of one of the many useful gifts that Tata gives you. **

**Fricking Tata. Toast solves nothing. **


	23. Chapter 23: W

/**white shirt club**.

* * *

Even though Alexy's thought process was a bit off, his heart was in the right place.

He, Armin, and Kentin had shown up to my house — all wearing white shirts and blue jeans, they must have joined a simpleton club beforehand — and told me and Candy that we were all going on a mall trip.

Alexy had half-explained that since he noticed that I was sad the other day (apparently a week ago is just "the other day" to him) when he walked to me to the art room, he decided that I needed some cheering up.

We had to wear white shirts and jeans also before they let us leave. But I finally let the question out when we arrived at the mall. "Why are we all matching for? What's going on?"

Kentin shrugged. "Ask Alexy, it was his idea."

"I had a vision! I thought that it was going to be a great idea, but I guess it came out kind of weird." He smiled widely and flung his arm out in front of us. "But you all look amazing though! We are going to be the best looking group in the mall."

"We'll see about that." I murmured. Alexy hooked arms with me.

"You are much too colorful looking to be such a Debby Downer." He pivoted away from the movie theater suddenly. "We're going to have to pass on the movies guys. All the films they're showing today have sad endings and I don't want to watch that."

"Thanks for the spoilers Alexy." Kentin said.

Alexy pouted. "And they're playing that movie where it rains for 49 years or whatever. At the end the giant umbrella breaks and everybody drowns."

"Hey, we were going to see that next week!" Armin said. He pulled out a chocolate milk from a magical air pocket. "This is why nobody likes to go to the movies with you."

"Oh well." Alexy said. He managed to drag us to the food court instead.

I wonder what everyone else in the court thought of us. We were a group of your average teenagers, suspiciously dressed alike spare an orange hat, that meant no harm to this mall or its visitors in anyway whatsoever, I can assure you.

Alexy got food for us too. Were Alexy and Armin rich or something? All this frivolous spending on clothes and games meant that they either had a lot of money to spare or they were just irresponsible.

Alexy returned with pizza. It was an interesting pizza might I add. Each slice had a different topping. I grabbed the pineapple one before any one else could.

"Hey Candy," Kentin called out. "You haven't said anything all day. Are you alright?" She shoved a slice of pizza into her mouth instead of answering him.

"Good pizza," she said in between mouthfuls.

I focused away from them and onto my own slice of pizza. Candy was always more blatant with her emotions than I was. If she was sad, then she'll burst out crying at any moment. If I was sad, then I would usually go on a rampage.

Right now, Candy was obviously sad, but I don't think that she was going to soak her pizza crust with tears just yet. The girl could only hold something in for so long.

After we had finished our meal, we were promptly kicked out of the mall for making other people uncomfortable with our matching attire.

* * *

It took me a second to realize that Candy and I were sitting on the same park bench where Castiel had dropped his lighter and I rested with the old women dogs.

Candy had tried to spark up a conversation about the weather but it failed.

"Castiel's last girlfriend moved away from him too." I said. I just wanted to clear the air somehow.

"Oh." She shuffled her feet across the pavement. "Then you should go spend as much time as you can with him. We only have a week left."

"Yeah I know."

"Are you okay?"

"I'm okay."

"Are you sure?"

I rolled my eyes. "I'm sure."

"Positive?"

"As positive as our blood type."

"Wait, our blood types are positive? I didn't know this."

I didn't have the heart to laugh, but I smiled. One of the few promises that I have managed to keep over the years was to always love my idiot sister.


	24. Chapter 24: X

_A/N:_ **Two more chapters left! ^.^**

* * *

/**xanthous xenophobia**.

* * *

Today I finally understood why everyone hated Mondays. I was already crabby over my moving situation and the fact that Candy refused to get out of bed this morning just added on to everything.

After first period I decided to hide out in the bathroom instead of wander down the halls. I didn't want to talk to anyone. I just paced in front of the bathroom stalls and mirrors. One of the lights were flickering and it was bothering me. If this school can afford pink walls and purple lockers then it can surely get some better bulbs.

"I think she's in here." The door suddenly opened and Amber and Cakewalk bursted in. I caught a glimpse of Charlotte's back before the door closed.

I gave a small wave towards them. "Good morning ladies." Li growled at me. I tried to step past them then. I was not going to deal with their powdery anger issues right now. "I'll be leaving then."

I was pushed against the door by Amber. "You're dating Castiel?" She yelled.

"Yeah?" I tried to pry her hands off of me. "Hey, let go Amber. Class is starting soon so it might be best to fight after school."

She raised her hand up and slapped me across the face. It took a second for everything to register. A throbbing pain settled into my cheek and when I tried to touch my face it stung. Amber had a bloody good slap, I had to give her that.

The door opened again and I was pulled out of the bathroom. I thought that Amber had come back. I put up my hands this time. The slap had caught me off guard, but I was ready now.

My mind must have packed its bags and gone on vacation, because I was just now realizing that Charlotte was dragging me down the hallway.

"I'm only helping you because this all was my fault." She said.

"Huh?" Was my relationship in Charlotte's status report to Amber or something?

"I'm not going to explain myself." Oh well, who cares about Charlotte? My cheek doesn't, that's for sure. It felt like the side of my face was screaming right now.

"Are we going to the nurse?" She shook her head. "Are you throwing me in the basement?"

"I should." Charlotte then parked me in front of her locker, opened it, and took some stuff out. "Here's some ice. You and Candy had an argument this morning, got it?"

I pressed the ice against my cheek. "Thanks Charlotte." She shrugged and sauntered off. I couldn't really figure out what that random act of kindness was all about.

"Hey Chrys!" Dammit.

I tried to walk down the hallway too like I didn't hear anything, but he started running.

"Why are you acting like you didn't hear me?" I pressed the bag of ice closer to my cheek. I couldn't just run off from Castiel, he's bigger and faster and he'll become even more suspicious.

I turned around. "Hi." His eyes widened.

"What happened?"

"Nothing too serious. Candy was angry and she didn't want to leave the house and things escalated." He took the ice pack from my hand and looked at my face.

"Candy did this?" I heard skepticism in his voice.

I snatched the pack back. "Yeah." He still looked really worried. "Don't press it," I muttered.

"_Don't press it_? You've been kind of off lately, what's wrong?"

"Isn't it obvious? I have to move away just when I got all settled in. And then there's you…" I pressed the ice against my cheek and closed my mouth. I was just going to offend him.

Castiel crossed his arms. "What about me?"

I shook my head. "Nothing."

"No, no. Finish what you were going to say."

"Stop it. I don't want to." He was somehow already mad. Castiel crossed his arms and walked away. I sunk into the coldness of the ice pack.

* * *

It took a little while to drop off all of my and Candy's textbooks, but I managed to do it. My Monday wouldn't be complete without cleaning out two lockers too. Plus Candy like to spew useless decorations all over her possessions, so I had fun with all of that.

Shermansky was all sorrowful when I went to her office. This was a turn from the happy-go-lucky stomach syrup I had first met. And it was definitely not the lady who was super protective over her dog and was blowing my head off for ordering for a school wall to be painted orange.

She said that she was going to miss the Pomp sisters. But I bet that she was just going to miss Candy. I have caused nothing but disappointment and grief for her; she surely was cheering on the inside that I was going.

Nathaniel made a comment about how Sweet Amoris was going to be less "colorful and loud" without me, but he was obviously ecstatic. I gave him my papers and bounced.

I found Castiel off to the side of the courtyard. Lysander was next to him and they seemed to be having an intense conversation about something. I bet they were having a debate on which style was better: watered down punk or new age Victorian.

When I approached them Lysander walked away. I didn't even look at him. I had forgotten to ask him about his sudden dislike of me and it was kind of too late solve that issue. I guess he was going to be mad at me forever and always now.

Castiel kept an eye on me as he pulled out his cigarette packet. My fingers started twitching for one.

"Sorry." He pulled out two cigarettes. "I was being stupid this morning."

He took out the skull lighter and rolled it around in his palm for a second before he lit one cigarette. "You're stupid every morning." He pressed it against my lips then.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I wanted to kiss him then and there for some weird reason, but my breath was holding me back. For some reason Castiel didn't smell or taste like smoke until right after he smoked. It was like the odor evaporated right off of his skin in under a minute.

He brushed a finger across my hurt cheek. The throbbing had gone down but the swelling had gone up. "You should put on some sunglasses before we go out tonight."

I exhaled a slow breath of smoke at that. "We're still going out?" I asked.

"Duh." He draped his arm over my shoulders. "Girlfriend," he smirked. I think I was going to miss that stupid grin the most.

"Boyfriend," I said.


	25. Chapter 25: Y

/**yede**.

* * *

I was glad that Rosalya was taking pictures on her phone, or else I was sure that everyone would be blinded from camera flashes by the time that Rosalya was done taking photos.

At the end of the day she gathered us all by the staircase. Castiel was squeezing the life out of my hand and Candy was pressed against my side. I wasn't sure why Rosalya wanted us all lapped together, but we all wanted to please her.

"Kentin, scoot closer to Alexy!" She called out. Kentin quickly did as told. I guess we all wanted this little photo shoot to be over with as soon as possible. "Alright, everybody smile! If one of you looks unhappy then we are taking the picture again." She sent a quick glare towards Lysander. The time-confused guy has been all frowns all day, I don't think that there's any fixing that.

"C'mon Rosalya, you're taking too long." Armin groaned. I think that he was squished in between Iris and Kim.

Rosalya rolled her eyes and set her phone up. "Smiles!" As she pushed her finger down to capture the picture I grabbed Castiel's jacket and pulled him down for a kiss. I laughed at Castiel's shocked expression and the sound of Rosalya sighing. "How mature Chrys."

"I'm always mature." Rosalya then led us all out to the courtyard. Candy was still stuck to my side until Alexy pulled her away.

I turned to Castiel with a ghost of smile. He touched my cheek softly. The bruise was still there but it didn't hurt anymore. It was funny how this rebellious, punk kid was so soft and gentle on the inside. Well, I guess I could say the same about myself.

He pressed his lips against the top of my head. "You know, I wish I could light your cigarette everyday." This was his way of saying that he was going to miss me.

"Me too." He folded me into his chest. "Quick question," I suddenly remembered.

"Yeah?"

"Why do you call me Dottie?" He rubbed my back.

"If you ever come back I'll tell you why, how about that?"

"Okay, fine." The dismal bell rang overhead of us. I slowly removed my arms from around him.

"Kiss me." He said. I leaned forward on the tips of my toes and kissed him. I knew that no high school relationship lasts, yet I really did want to stay. Castiel and I could've had a regular breakup instead of being separated like this.

In the distance I could hear Candy call my name. I gave Castiel another quick kiss on the cheek. "Goodbye." I said. It wasn't until I was strapped down in the car and halfway towards the airport when I realized that he didn't say goodbye back.


	26. Chapter 26: Z

/**ze end**.

* * *

Candy set a plate in front of me before she sat down. The plate held a suspicious looking sandwich. I wasn't sure if I could trust her or not.

"You could at least try to poison me at night." I said. Candy flaunted her phone in my face.

"Rosalya just sent me an update on everybody in Sweet Amoris! Wanna read it with me?"

I shrugged. "Is it interesting?"

"Of course it is silly." Candy tweaked my nose. I could never understand how she was so resilient. She was sobbing up the Pacific Ocean on the airplane, yet once we settled in she was back to her usual giddy self. "Okay, so Violette and Kim entered an art competition together."

"Did they win?"

"Rosa says that they are banned from the art museum for a year."

I snorted. "They must've lost then."

"Armin's chocolate milk addiction got out of hand so he had to take classes."

"Did he go to Addicts' Annoymous or something? Poor Monsieur, all he wanted was milk."

"And then Lysander has been ghostwriting some songs for people."

"Ghostwriting?" Candy nodded. "Oh. Well he should always take responsibility for his work. Lysander is a really good writer."

"And then she said that black is the new red." I raised an eyebrow. Sometimes Rosalya really didn't make sense.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I don't know. She said that she'll send me a picture later." Her phone vibrated suddenly. "Oh, she just sent me another text!"

"What's it say?"

"A new guy just came to town. He's wearing an orange beanie."

I snapped my fingers. "That kid is going to go places." I picked up my sandwich then.

How could I be so naïve? For the hundredth time, I have been fooled into eating a peanut butter and cheese sandwich.

I was going to give Candy a five second head start before I pounced on her.


	27. Chapter 27: Not an Epilogue

/**bonus chapter wut**.

* * *

The cashier kept looking at me as he was ringing my stuff up. I usually wouldn't be bothered by some random staring, but it felt weird this time. "What are you looking at?" I asked.

He raised an eyebrow at me. "How old are you?" Weird. Was he hitting on me? I should give him a random number.

"27. What about you?" The ridiculous age plan didn't work out.

"Little girl," he snorted. I put a hand on my hip. I didn't travel halfway across the city to this sappy grocery store just to get insulted.

"What's your problem?" He shook his head.

"Calm down Chrys. We can't fight in the middle of the store." My hands dropped at my sides.

"Castiel?" He nodded. "What? Your hair, it's black. And your face looks maturer." I laughed at myself. "Can't believe I didn't recognize you."

"Me neither. And I don't look that different, shut up." We laughed together then. Ten years could change anybody. But who knew that I'll find my high school sweetheart while buying donut holes and water? I didn't see this coming.

"So, um…" I started.

"What?"

"Can I hug you or would that be wrong?" He held out his arms.

"Bring it."

I don't know how, but I managed to jump over the conveyer belt to him. I know that they'll be announcing a cleanup at register nine in a few seconds, my happy tears were going to make the floor slippery and hazardous.

* * *

_A/N_:** I'm new to this fandom, so you guys don't know that I always make little bonus chapters. ;D**

**Anywho, this will be my only MCL work. I'm sorry. I'm going to be writing for another fandom for a while now. So sorry again. ;(**

**Anways, thanks for enjoying this little slice of Chrys' life. 'Til next time!**


End file.
